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It’s not easy to break a habit. Once broken, it’s not easy to re-form it. Especially, a habit that requires will, concentration & determination but ends up only in procrastination!! No. I am not talking about writing, although it’s traits are quite similar but as clear from the title, I am talking about reading! 

Reading has been a core part of my routine for a longer time, but somehow with the job & house chores & more, I kind of lost interest in it! I used to keep my books on the desk, in the front so that I can let myself WANT to read, but that never happened. Then, the lockdown happened & I still didn’t read!! I know I wanted but I didn’t. I picked them up, looked at the covers, the ones I’d left half read, I embraced them with my fingers, remembering about the story & just before I could open it, I put it back on the desk! Instead, I watched movies & series! I felt guilty sometimes, but not enough to actually do something about it!

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 “We need change in order to survive!”

What I did to get back to Reading:

I shifted to a different room & gave it a different ambiance so that I feel the CHANGE. Because we need change in order to survive! That room didn’t have a television, nor it had the wifi. I just had my phone, some books, some stationary for writing & colouring & my laptop. So, basically, I minimalised the sources of entertainment. For some more, I also had my ukulele. Never much used it, as I was procrastinating for it as well!! But, this isn’t about it. It’s about reading. 

Once I started living in this new room, I felt more free and less pressurised to DO things! I just did what I wanted to IN THE MOMENT. So, at first, I did some colouring! Threw some random oil pastels on the sheet, hoping to get something for the wall!

“I didn’t force myself to do things & it helped me to do more.”

 Here’s what I created:

I think it’s better than what I used do in the name of art!!! Anyway, the point is, it worked. I didn’t force myself to do things & it helped me to do more. I started watching Harry Potter for like the 100th time! Then, I picked up a book & started reading from where I had left. The book was The Palace of Illusions by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni . This book is based on the Indian epic — Mahabharat. Only in this book, the author have narrated the story through the perspective of the female protagonist of the tale , Draupadi.

I started re-reading it and I was trapped in the story, all over again! Now, I am liking it and I have time for it or should I say, I value my time for reading!! So, my reading list now involves:

• Women by Charles Bukowski
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (1/4th read)
• Incognito by David Eagleman (1/4th read)
• The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera

I love all of these but just like a child loses interest in some of the toys, I lost it too! Only the child doesn’t know the value of those toys, but I do. So, that’s how I went back to my books & resumed my reading habit after months.

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Points to remember:

• Human Beings need constant change in life in order to survive better!
• Minimalising is the way to de-clutter our minds & life.
• Do things you feel like doing in the moment.
• Do not force your way to creativity. 
• Books are our best companions.

With these points, I leave you with a motive to not be bombarded with thoughts but ways to organise them.

Thanks for reading. Namaste.

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