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This fridge magnet makes me smile. A surprise, the gifter accomplished more than making me laugh...isn't it something when a gift makes you feel seen?
If you know me virtually or otherwise, you probably know that reading is never a trivial pursuit for me. One might say that with regard to reading, most days, I'm booked, 😆 (Sorry.)
So if you interrupted my reading? The truth is I'd probably never say this (aloud) to anyone, but I do LOVE how this clever novelty item subverts stereotypes about readers who are also introverts aka us quiet folks.
Speaking of quiet, I highly recommend Susan Cain's book, Quiet, The Power of Introverts. If you identify this way and you're unfamiliar, her research provides healing insight and a handy game-plan for how to live in this (loud) world made for extroverts who may not fathom that loneliness and solitude are not the same thing. For me, solitude is most often the safest space.
A quote from Quiet: "Some of our greatest ideas, art, and inventions—from the theory of evolution to van Gogh's Sunflowers to the personal computer—came from quiet and cerebral people who knew how to tune into their inner worlds and the treasures to be found there." I'm no Darwin or van Gogh but I do know this rich and treasured inner world and I must say, it's lit (softly, and with literature). 😅 (Sorry.)
My wife loves the magnet, she reads all the time. :)
ReplyDeleteWe readers get a kick out of it.
Delete...the F word is being used too often these days.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree. Years ago the F word was reserved for the worst of the worst things that could happen. Now it's so common and there's really nothing out there that expresses extreme indignation.
DeleteI think you're speaking about the genuine importance of decorum, and in that regard, I agree: there is a time and a place. A caution though: language is power and for soooo long this word has been a trigger, inviting more offense that things that a truly offensive. An example: decades ago, I watched a public service announcement that featured clip after clip of homeless teens and the people walking by, ignoring them, and then finally one of them turned to the camera and said something like, "If I said fuck, you'd probably be offended, but at least I'd have your attention." Then he continued, "Fuck, I'm hungry." I never forgot that ad; it taught me to be more offended by homeless teens and hunger and suffering and other social justice issues than a word. I hope this makes sense.
DeleteYears ago the word offended me, but now it doesn't. I just think there's a difference between using it to express displeasure at something trivial (like being annoyed when traffic isn't flowing the way you'd like it to) and something earth-shatteringly bad like losing a child.
DeleteWell said, Kathy G. Using words and word-choice intentionally is key to communicating with clarity.
DeleteThere seems to have been much more literature and data on introversion in the past two decades.
ReplyDeleteInsert applause emoji here.
DeleteINTROVERTS RULE! Sorry for using the rather extroverted all-caps to say that. Love the magnet too.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Debra. In this regard, all-caps seem perfect to me too.
DeleteI'm not keen on that magnet, I like the idea but not the wording.
ReplyDeleteYes, the idea is really what's important...thanks for not dismissing it because of the word-choice.
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ReplyDeleteI figure with profanity one has either heard it and therefore can't possibly be offended or has never heard it so therefore can't possibly be offended. I think it was Robert Heinlein who said that.
The magnet states the sentiment quite clearly, if you ask me. Which of course you didn't. But you could have asked. Haha.
I read constantly and have since I learned to read at 4. It was my companion, my escape, my friends when I didn't have any and my family when my own family was... less than involved with me. People talked to me and I didn't even hear them because I was so checked in to the world between the covers of the book and completely checked out from the world around me.
I did eventually learn to hear people speaking to me, but reading is still my most-preferred escape from life in general.
It's such a fun escape and such a healthy one too! Insert fist bump here. Clever quote. I never aim to offend anyone but I also aim to invite others to consider why something is offensive and where it might fit on a continuum of things that are (more) truly offensive, imo.
ReplyDeleteI watched the TED talk link about introverts. I am an introvert myself, and I appreciate it when people recognize that it isn't necessarily a bad thing.
ReplyDeleteYes, I felt so encouraged by the way she defined us...it's a battery thing, not a social skill flaw as people once believed. Sigh.
DeleteThe person who gave you that magnet knows you well, and perhaps has tried and failed to gain your attention while you were deep in a book.
ReplyDeleteHa. Well said! I hadn't thought of that!
DeleteAccording to my mother, you could not interrupt my reading. She swore that she could lift my feet and vacuum and I would never notice. As for the F word, again, my mother. My kindergarten age daughter raced into the house and told her grandma that there was a word on the school wall and she could read it and it said "F**k". My mother didn't even blink. 'That's a fine old-fashioned Anglo Saxon word,' she said. The brat lost steam at 'old'fashioned' and did not use the word again until her teens when they all used it all the time. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteLove these stories about your clever mother.
DeleteI used to read in the lunchroom at a previous job and was constantly interrupted by coworkers who apparently couldn't see the invisible book in my hand. Needless to say, I get the appeal of this magnet.
ReplyDeleteHa, I can relate to these "invisible books."
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