‘I’m not convinced I know how to read’

I nudged Georgie off my lap—or, more accurately, off the keyboard of my laptop.

“Just give me a minute, goof,” I said.

When I finished what I was doing, I looked around to see where George had settled. He and his brother Leo were sleeping atop their cat tower beside the couch.

“Oh,” I thought, “they remembered that their cat tower exists.”

(I should note that George just returned to my lap, a few hours later, now that I’m trying to type again. He can’t share my attention with anything.)  

George and Leo go through phases with what, and where, they like. I can’t remember the last time they were both on the cat tower before today, but sometimes it’s the only place they want to be for weeks straight. I know they love the cat tower, even when they haven’t devoted much time to it recently.

This is a metaphor for my current relationship with my favorite hobbies.

I finished a book today, on September 7, and it was only my second book of the month. August was my lowest reading month of 2025, and September is looking a whole lot worse so far.  

In Austin Kleon’s Friday newsletter, he quoted professor Alan Jacobs: “Do you want to read? Or do you just want to have read[?]” I was momentarily convicted—was I just upset that my book count was lower than normal?

But no. I am upset because I want to read. I want to read because I am an overall happier person when reading is a substantial and meaningful part of my life. I care about my book count because the world contains far more books than I will ever be able to read, but I want to leave as few unread as possible.

I’ve felt similarly with writing recently, but I think I turned a corner this week. I was more than a month behind on journaling, and when I’m behind and not feeling excited to journal, it can feel like a chore. But I devoted time to journaling this week, and not only did I make progress on catching up, but I also remembered that I journal because I love it.

And I hadn’t written a story for work in quite a while because of other responsibilities.  When I finally focused on writing a student feature on Friday, I had so much fun choosing my lead and structuring my story.

So here’s hoping I read, and enjoy reading, more this week. And I hope I remember that I choose to do my hobbies because I love them, and not because someone put them on a chore wheel for me.

It would make a great ending to this newsletter if George and Leo had returned to the cat tower. But they clearly forgot that they live with a writer. They’re both on the floor, loafing.