Welcome to Litsy!

Not an easy book to review. The writing isn‘t complex or unreadable, it‘s a hard book to read because the subject is complex and you constantly have to stop and think about what you just read. Worth every minute, but not something you‘ll get through quickly. I‘ve been reading it in snippets for AGES and it definitely made me do some thinking. (Something I appreciate.) While a reread will take some time, I plan to reread this one for sure.

I am consuming books rather than reading them.

Waiting seems at odds with progress, and we seldom ask whether it might have a purpose in and of itself.

Acedia: a state of listlessness or torpor; not caring; being unable to perform one's duties. Acedia is more than just laziness or apathy. It‘s a dejection that makes it hard to commit to spiritual and ascetic practices, boredom that leads to falling asleep while reading, and frustration with life in general.

https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/desert-fathers-sins-acedia-sloth

Acedia was a term used since medieval times to describe a kind of soul weariness, a symptom of monks who spent a lot of time in isolation. The word fell out of favor years ago. Norris seeks to bring it back to describe the general weariness of a beyond-depressed society. Part memoir, part spiritual/ philosophical treatise, part history, this beautifully written book spoke to me a great deal, even though I am not part of any religious tradition.

It's taken me along time to get through this and I didn't read every word. This will be a book I come back to during different life stages.

Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die.

Can a man lay a new foundation every day?
If he works hard, he can lay a new foundation at every moment.

Choosing what is difficult all one's days as if it were easy. Auden. The way Norris talks about her marriage is humbling and beautiful because it's real and human. Grace.

Believe and disbelieve a hundred times an hour.

This is so good. She's writing about things I've thought and it's nice to see them on a page. These poets are magical and sad. What a thing to be.

I've not had a book speak so closely to my current state in a very long time.

It's 5'o'clock somewhere

Many books ahead of me! I see long night ahead!! I keep telling myself stop watching Scandal!!!