Puddle Jumping

PUDDLE JUMPING-- I did it!

I cannot believe it. I did the unthinkable (for me). And…I as I am continuing on this path of uncharacteristic behavior, in part, I can successfully say, I have moved away from temptation.

"What did you do?" You are wondering.

I assure you, I didn't do anything terrible, drastic, or even life-threatening. I did something new--new for me.

I stopped reading. Seriously--are you sure you are ready for this?--stopped reading in the MIDDLE of a PAGE! Oh, yes I did!

I didn’t stop at the end of a chapter, not at a break in the print, not at a heading. I stopped in the middle of a random page somewhere in a chapter.

"Oh, WHY!?" you cry. "WHY?"

It’s so unlike me. I crave thick black lines around my coloring pages, I avoid puddles like the plague, I like numbers that fit (I'm using Dr. Wicked's Write or Die by the way)--I like structure. Stopping in the middle of a page, in the middle of a chapter, isn't me at all. It's very atypical. And WOW! It is fun!

I stopped reading when I hit a line that said, “These girls have no concept of thinking towards the middle" (Dessen, Sarah Just Listen)**. For some unknown reason, I didn't want to know what Ms. Dessen and the character, Owen, meant…yet. I wanted to wait, and savor the realization at another time. For now, I want to guess. I want to wonder what it is that this means.

Often, I am in such a rush. I dash here and run there so often that even when I am reading I treat it like some sort of marathon. (“I must finish the book this week because: the next one is waiting, I promised it to someone, I owe a huge fine, etc., etc.”) This fast-paced method of devouring books takes out some of the natural "joys" of reading. It's one of the things I tell students to do, but often forget to do for myself: Enjoy the book.

Just Listen is in my bedroom. It is far away from me at the moment. I like that. Of course, I'm going to finish that chapter tonight. (I'm being a little crazy for me today, but I'm not that crazy!)

What have you done recently that is out of character for you? How did it make you feel? Will you do it again? Sometimes, we need to look out how else reading and writing (as well as our other learning experiences) can be approached in order to grasp a better understanding. If you haven't tried something a bit different from the norm recently, go ahead. It's why I like puddles--might as well JUMP!

**So what does this line mean? I'm going to infer a bit here. Maybe it’s about the ying and yang of life. Things are either black, or white. Owen might be about to explain that at times we have to compromise and accept what the “middle” is like. When we look at a situation, we need to see the bits of black AND the bits of white. I’m not 100% positive, but that’s what I have so far. I'm not going to tell you if I'm right though. Read the book!