Point Of No Return

I really need to make an effort to start reading more analog media. I used to, but I've fallen out of the habit. For a long time my reading material could easily be broken up into two categories: magazines & books. Nothing revolutionary. As far as magazines went, my focus was singular. I only subscribed to GQ. When it came to books my interests were wide and varied. But once I latched onto a book, I made sure to stay within a particular theme. I'd usually stick with an author or series.

So this is the way things went. I would receive a new GQ in the mail and read it cover to cover. I'd say, on average, that would take about a week or two. Once I had that GQ in my grasp, that's the only thing I would read until it was finished. Once it was finished, I had the rest of the month to read whatever else I wanted to. That usually meant the current book I was reading. But once a new GQ came in the mail, I'd put the book on the back burner until I was finished with the magazine and then I would continue on with the book. If I finished, I always made sure to have another book on hand and the cycle would continue.

I loved this system, if only because it was a system. Plus, as systems went this was elegant and simple. If anything it was better than an ordered chaos. Which is where I am now. Ever since I started this project, things have gone all topsy-turvy. Well maybe that's not true. Things became undone a long time ago. I just stopped reading my GQ magazines and they kept piling up and up. Things are out of control and I'm sooo far behind. And being the guy that I am, I can't let go. I must do what I set out to do. Or rather, if I want to continue reading this magazine (which I really do) I must read everything in order. At the moment, though, that's a very tall order. I'm at least a full year behind on the issues. I really need to make a decision right now. Actually I've already made the decision, I just need to execute. If I don't follow through, I'll be so far behind I'll have no way of catching up.

I'm gonna start small and see if I can just sit down for an hour each day and see if I can't chip away at this massive wall of paper. If things are progressing nicely I might bump it up a notch. I'm not exactly sure what reading one hour a day amounts to when it comes to getting through one of these issues, but I hope it's enough. My hope is that I can at least take care of 1.5 issues worth of reading a month. In my wildest dreams, two issues per month. I just need enough to catch up.

As I've said... all of this is a must. Because of the system I've laid out in my head, I haven't been able to read anything. Nothing analog anyway. I haven't read a book in over a year. Which is very sad. Especially when I think of how well I was working my way through The Collected Works of Joseph Campbell. I need to get back to that. And getting back there means getting through these magazines. I need to. And I can't turn back.

DS333, planning.