Books are the quietest and most constant of friends

Sometimes I even ask myself if all this has really happened, if its pictures dwell in truth in my memory, and not merely in my imagination. In my position as head inspector in the federal police department at Washington, urged on moreover by the desire, which has always been very strong in me, to investigate and understand everything which is mysterious, I naturally became much interested in these remarkable occurrences.

And as I have been employed by the government in various important affairs and secret missions since I was a mere lad, it also happened very naturally that the head of my department placed In my charge this astonishing investigation, wherein I found myself wrestling with so many impenetrable mysteries. The strange occurrences began in the western part of our great American State of North Carolina. There, deep amid the Blueridge Mountains rises the crest called the Great Eyrie. Its huge rounded form is distinctly seen from the little town of Morganton on the Catawba River, and still more clearly as one approaches the mountains by way of the village of Pleasant Garden.

A great book should leave you with many experiences, and slightly exhausted at the end. You live several lives while reading.

Bookland

That freedom was a right, that the very first of the natural rights of man was to be free and to belong only to himself, would seem to be self-evident, and yet thousands of years had to pass before the glorious thought was generally accepted, and the nations of the earth had the courage to proclaim it.

Understanding The Background Of Library.

Usually I when I confront a challenge, I persevere, pretend I’m fine, stick to my routine, and get on with my day. This time though, I couldn’t do it. A larger-than-life, gaping hole where life used to happen, engulfed me and sucked me into an empty vortex leaving me to wonder now what? 

Downtime is serious business. It’s ignoring the buzzing, pulsating, high-level, staticky frequency that constitutes our outer world — for me, a relentless grid of perpetual chaos — and infiltrates our inner system. Relaxing and rejuvenating from life’s daily demands is vital.

Lying in bed because that’s all I could do, I felt the void to my core. For the first time in a long time, I had to just “be”, and it scared me. Time stopped. Life stopped. I was off the chaotic grid. What on earth would I do? 

We live in a ‘how to heal’ world, where self-help is available right at our fingertips. But even with infinite online advice about how to feel better, fix our life, attract our desires, unwind, and go with the flow, this break didn’t feel like Utopia.

I realized my problem, and it wasn’t just the ongoing pandemic ruling my existence. It’s that I don’t prioritize downtime. Instead, I hold onto pressure like it’s my best friend. I’m the hamster on the wheel running to get it done, make it perfect, hide my flaws, beat the clock, keep up, stay informed, do the right thing, try to feel better, and succeed. The overload, combined with a cultural mindset to persevere, can derail the wheel.