Find the balance.

‘Tis the season for thanks. What are you grateful for?

Books

I read two fantastic books that are totally related, but not directly.

Maryanne Wolf’s Reader, Come Home: The Reading Brain in a Digital World probes the problems and complexities of our ever advancing technology and posits several points of hope for the future. She worries about the overabundance of “information that will never become knowledge” and the knowledge that will never translate into wisdom, while also exploring the exciting possibility of adding to our skillbase—digital reading skills (short, quick, cursory scans) in addition to book reading (longer investments and deeper thinking). The beginning was pretty bleak, brains changing and relationships eroding, but the potential for dual processing and learning proficiency in another reading mode—as opposed to replacing the existing reading mode—affirmed my conviction that deep reading is important and necessary, and is an essential component of critical thinking.

Considering the state of the world, we would do well to add a dash of critical thinking, nuance, and empathy to our discourse (all of which is associated with book reading). The “homogenized” language certainly makes for quicker processing (by removing nuance), but it also creates the unsophisticated binary thinking which leads to the inability to engage in civil discourse/discussion/debate.

Enter Yochi Brandes with When God Was Young. In this Biblical study, Brandes dissects God’s changing personality from the beginning in the Garden of Eden, to the end when Jonah is swallowed by a whale. It was a perfect example of the deep, book reading brain at work. I especially enjoyed the unconventional interpretations of how God was shaped and molded by His experiences. Like Wolf’s book, When God Was Young emphasizes the need for learning and adapting to survive in this ever-changing world. It also highlighted that having information available does not equate to wisdom, which is transferred through stories and sets the foundation of a culture. And I am fully on board with a culture that allows for a secular woman to approach a traditionally religious text with views that challenge God’s “goodness” for the sake of discovering some hidden truth. In my eyes, that’s evidence of respect, freedom, and progress.

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Beats

Are you in the mood for something fresh and new? Check out Prince Stephané Legar! I love when musicians give shout outs of appreciation.

Barbells

I’ve been training pretty hard since the summer and it was time for a deload. I lowered weight, went on a few hikes, and enjoyed the recovery that comes with eating copious amounts of festival foods—thank you turkey!

Peace and love, 

Kit