Ann, I hope this doesn't really feel like a guilty secret to you anymore! I am always sad when people apologise to me that they 'don't read' much or anymore. Although I *am* a reader (albeit a slow and somewhat struggling one at times, for various reasons) I *don't* think that makes me a more 'serious person'!
I love your account of finding your voice and using a light humorous style in order to avoid being bored when writing reports! When I was doing a degree in English literature (half of it in my 20s at a 'bricks and mortar' university and half in my 40s via the OU) I wrote all my essays in a light-hearted style. I restrained myself as much as possible, but the humour seeped out anyway! I'm sure the readers of your reports always appreciated your gentle humour and the clarity and readability of your writing. Thank you for sharing your 'Guilty Reading Secret' with us!
Thanks. Well, I must admit if it were a REALLY guilty secret, I wouldn't announce it quite so publicly. Yes, I was brought up that all serious people read and if you didn't read, you weren't a serious person, but one of the real joys of being in your 80s is that it doesn't matter what other people think any more. I think I am a serious person (whatever that means and we could discuss that til the cows come home), but I am so on my own terms and in my own way. And I am glad to hear that someone else - you - writes in a light way. It is so rare. And, as I described here, can be very effective.
Not that you need my validation, but of course you are a serious person!
I am looking forward to caring much less about what other people think. I can feel that starting to happen, at least. I liked your words 'I am so on my own terms and in my own way.' Do we spend (what we expect to be) the second half of our lives becoming more ourselves?
Absolutely yes, yes, yes. I have often said I don't know why it takes to the age of 50-60 to assert our own wishes, but it does for so many of us. And it is hugely liberating. This is what my book is about, also called The Granny who Stands on her Head – and many of my posts. My next one is about would we like to be young again?
Here’s to being whatever kind of serious person feels
right for us. Love having your perspective, Ann. Such a good reminder that we only need to impress ourselves, and perhaps not even that — better to read to make ourselves happy. 🥰
By all means, read, read, read. My husband's nose is usually in three books at any one time, so I am very familiar with what it is to love reading. And I do enjoy being in a really involving book – it's just that I am somehow hypercritical that I don't find that many.
That's what he says. I completely understand. I just have no wish to do it. In fact, I often leave novels for so long that I can't remember the characters or even the plot. Memory was never my strong suit and it has worsened as I have aged.
Ann, I hope this doesn't really feel like a guilty secret to you anymore! I am always sad when people apologise to me that they 'don't read' much or anymore. Although I *am* a reader (albeit a slow and somewhat struggling one at times, for various reasons) I *don't* think that makes me a more 'serious person'!
I love your account of finding your voice and using a light humorous style in order to avoid being bored when writing reports! When I was doing a degree in English literature (half of it in my 20s at a 'bricks and mortar' university and half in my 40s via the OU) I wrote all my essays in a light-hearted style. I restrained myself as much as possible, but the humour seeped out anyway! I'm sure the readers of your reports always appreciated your gentle humour and the clarity and readability of your writing. Thank you for sharing your 'Guilty Reading Secret' with us!
Thanks. Well, I must admit if it were a REALLY guilty secret, I wouldn't announce it quite so publicly. Yes, I was brought up that all serious people read and if you didn't read, you weren't a serious person, but one of the real joys of being in your 80s is that it doesn't matter what other people think any more. I think I am a serious person (whatever that means and we could discuss that til the cows come home), but I am so on my own terms and in my own way. And I am glad to hear that someone else - you - writes in a light way. It is so rare. And, as I described here, can be very effective.
Not that you need my validation, but of course you are a serious person!
I am looking forward to caring much less about what other people think. I can feel that starting to happen, at least. I liked your words 'I am so on my own terms and in my own way.' Do we spend (what we expect to be) the second half of our lives becoming more ourselves?
Absolutely yes, yes, yes. I have often said I don't know why it takes to the age of 50-60 to assert our own wishes, but it does for so many of us. And it is hugely liberating. This is what my book is about, also called The Granny who Stands on her Head – and many of my posts. My next one is about would we like to be young again?
Would I like to be young again? Absolutely not!
That is the very point of the post, coming out on Wednesday
Excellent timing!
I’m looking forward to it!
That is the very point of the post, coming out on Wednesday.
Here’s to being whatever kind of serious person feels
right for us. Love having your perspective, Ann. Such a good reminder that we only need to impress ourselves, and perhaps not even that — better to read to make ourselves happy. 🥰
By all means, read, read, read. My husband's nose is usually in three books at any one time, so I am very familiar with what it is to love reading. And I do enjoy being in a really involving book – it's just that I am somehow hypercritical that I don't find that many.
Hypercritical or discerning Ann? 😉
I am more like your husband – I need to have several books on the go at once, because I never know which one will suit my mood.
That's what he says. I completely understand. I just have no wish to do it. In fact, I often leave novels for so long that I can't remember the characters or even the plot. Memory was never my strong suit and it has worsened as I have aged.