By Brendan O’Meara
A few years ago my niece was home from school. She was sick and watched the movie Frozen on a constant loop. You probably did this as a kid too. You re-watched things you loved because you loved them. Unapologetically.
At some point you think that it’s no longer good enough to watch a few things deeply and you want to watch as many movies as possible or read as many books as possible.
But what if you tabled the idea of reading fifty books a year and instead read the same book twenty times? Or, pick your favorite book and read it once a year every year. I do this with The Great Gatsby. I read it every year in December, Ol’ Sport.
In any case, sometimes we think there’s no time to re-read books or re-watch movies because we could be consuming something new. No matter how many lifetimes you’re granted, you won’t be able to read or watch it all.
So should you come across something you love, study it. Immerse in it. See that book’s family tree: What authors did the author read that informed it?
It doesn’t matter what it is, but reclaiming that child-like zeal for a piece of art might be the key to greater enjoyment instead of trying to stay on an ever-quickening treadmill.
