Words to Nibble on...

Do you consider yourself a ‘reader of books’? I do, I don’t do enough of it these days. I love books in ‘analogue’ form (is that a thing?) so I can hold it, smell it, feel the pages turn under my fingers; I love underlining and putting little stars here and there so I can come back to it later and see what I thought important at the time. Digital just isn’t the same to me, it’s convenient sometimes but it will never take the place of a bound book in my hands. So, I’ve just picked up“Active Dreaming” by Robert Moss and I’ve dived in. As the words were washing over me I considered the words that I’d just moved through and how they were now effecting the words I was currently reading. Interesting… I pictured a bow wave of words and emotions behind me and the word waves in front of me that I was yet to read, and how they are connected through me like a thread of cotton that becomes a stitch and is poised to plunge through the fabric once more. So continuing that analogy, the words I’ve read form a tapestry that is beginning to make sense to my mind and the words that are to come will complete the work. But the book is already complete, I hold the energy of it in my hands, I can ‘feel’ it but to make sense of it on the level of mind - I must read it.

It’s interesting that the words in Moss’s book began as a pouring out of thought forms and emotions and  became sentences, paragraphs, chapters… these words I’m writing now are coming from - where…? Are they already in my mind? Well no, I’m not sure of the next word I’m going to write, honestly it’s how I write most of the time - an idea or concept sparks my interest and I just begin. But I’m writing a blog, not a book, so I don’t really need to plan ahead and consider the ebb and flow of the narrative, it’s more of a purging for me than it is a legacy. Am I ‘channeling’ these words? Well not in the sense that I understand ‘channeling’ but perhaps on some level they are coming to me from my Higher Self - perhaps that is channeling after all - if the words don’t already reside in my head they have to come from outside my head.

So back to the bookin my hand… each page is like a magic carpet with all the threads moving andundulating over a luminous aether of unseen energy. I gently turn the page andI’m struck by the little moment of joy, excitement, anticipation - the unknownwords that are about to enter me via my eyes, my mind, my heart. There’s anagreement that you enter into when you pick up a book with the intention toread it, you and the author are now in relationship with one another, you haveconsented to them to allow their words, thoughts and ideas, to move through you- it’s quite intimate and there’s a sort of connection now formed between you.They, as the author,  entered into it asthey began to write, as pen touched paper or fingers touched the keyboard. Asauthors they agree to others absorbing their words, thoughts and ideas, on anon for as long as the book exists. The reader and the author are collaborators,together the experience of each book is realised, it’s purpose is fulfilled.

So consider the nextbook you read, let the pages wash over you before you read them and then againafterwards, ‘feel’ the difference and observe how you feel when you turn eachpage.

Mindful reading -each moment in the journey of a book should be savoured, taste each morsel, andchew on each sentence so you can break it down into digestible word niblets.