Greetings and a happy Friday to you all!
The weather has been a bit sad of late (yes I am talking about the weather, but I have an awesome point so read on)… the kind of weather where you want to curl up in a comfy chair with a blanky, a [insert hot beverage of choice] and a good book. These days I find myself so busy that I forget to take time for myself to reflect on what I am doing, over this summer break I had a goal… read the books I haven’t been able to read all last year because of Uni work etc. I started many books… didn’t get the opportunity to finish one of them. I started to notice that my usual laid back bubbly persona would sometimes hideaway and I would get snappy, I don’t believe it was from book withdrawal syndrome. I think it was subconscious jealousy at the people I saw that seemed to have time for things where as I always felt so rushed. Last year flew by like a whirlwind and it wasn’t until our trip to Vanuatu where we had banned any and all technology that I felt like I could just breathe and do whatever I wanted and take time to enjoy the moment… I never took my watch anywhere and no phones – we had no idea what the time was at any point and it was fabulous.
But we can’t have holidays all the time (unfortunately) so how do we capture a little bit of paradise in our everyday lives to reduce stress levels, stop our eyes going square and just to stop and reflect and be ourselves? Some don’t feel the need for this, for instance after 2 weeks of no technology my hubby was begging for internet connectivity. Younger generations would probably feel immediate stress at having to leave their mobile at home, where as I now find joy and feel a little naughty when I turn mine off for at least half a day every weekend.
When I used to work in Sydney city there was this little bookstore I used to go to, ‘Maddagen’, it was in the basement of a building and very raw and industrial looking. I used to get a hot chocolate and sit in this GORGEOUS old, kinda worn red leather armchair that would not have looked out of place beside a fire with a gentleman smoking a pipe in it pondering philosophical things. I would sit there and read a book and drink my hot chocolate and sometimes look out the window a bit above me, as we were in the basement you could pretty much just see shoes and ankles (you’d be surprised how many people don’t take the price stickers off the bottom of their shoes). I would go there at least once a week and it was blissful, in all that hustle and bustle of a crazy city I had this perfect little haven hidden away. Unfortunately it was a little too hidden and disappeared one day; I wish I had known because I would have made them an offer on that chair.
I never found a book store/cafe quite the same and even if one came close it seemed to not last long. With the expansion of places like Amazon and the popularity of new technologies such as; ebooks, ereaders, ipads, smartphones and ereader apps Ye Olde Book Shoppe just can’t keep up. Even the Woolworths of book shop chains Borders has gone under. So in the spirit of old book smell and tattered covers I thought I would share this awesome very short article (with lots of beautiful pictures) depicting the 20 most beautiful bookstores in the world (according to the author). My favourite comment on the article is, “20 reasons not to buy a kindle”.
http://flavorwire.com/254434/the-20-most-beautiful-bookstores-in-the-world?all=1
Ditch the Bun 