Winding Down the Year --Reading Challenges

2016 is winding down.  It hasn't been a bad year for me personally but then I am not a celebrity or person of notoriety, thank goodness.  The year was actually pretty devoid of monumental events which is just fine with me.  I have reached the age where average, ordinary, undramatic works well for me. 

This year I have come to terms with the fact that I have lost interest in a lot of the things I used to love to do and I have figured out why.  Pressure.  I used to love to quilt but lost interest because 1) I couldn't just get creative and play without the pressure of having to make something for somebody else and there was always a deadline and 2) I can't crawl around on the floor to pin them anymore.  I used to love to do needlework like embroidery and cross stitch.  I remember when I was expecting my daughter, I went to JC Penney and bought a crewel embroidery kit.  It wasn't for anybody, it wasn't a gift, it was just for me to do.  I loved it.  Now I have gotten myself into the mindset that I MUST make Christmas ornaments or greeting cards or sell my finished cross stitch pictures on Ebay.  Somehow I have lost the ability to just do something for the sake of doing it without some sort of ulterior motive.  This is why I have lost interest.

I have now taken up coloring and it is very enjoyable because there is absolutely nothing to do with the end product but to enjoy the process.  Nobody wants a coloring sheet I have done, nobody is going to buy it and there is absolutely no worth in it except for the enjoyment that I get from doing it.  I see a lot of coloring going on in 2017.

I still read.  I love to read.  However, I have joined several reading challenges -- mostly on Goodreads -- the last several years and while it did prompt me to read more books, I think it has had a negative affect on my reading.  I feel like I have to read faster just to meet my "goal" and I don't necessarily enjoy the books as much if I am rushing.  I also don't like the feeling that I have "failed" to meet my goal -- like this year.

So, starting in 2017 I don't think I will do anymore Reading Challenges.  I think I am just going to read and keep a list -- my own reading challenge so to speak.  Some books just require more mulling over, some books aren't meant to be finished or need to be put aside for a while, some books are quick reads and maybe aren't so monumental.  I think I am just going to enjoy the books as they come to me and document it here on this blog just like I am doing with the 2016 Goodreads challenge this year but there isn't going to be a goal or a limit.  It will just be what it is.

And that is about as close to a resolution as I am going to get.