Does expending energy beget more energy? This, on the surface, sounds illogical, for if you are expending energy, it would be difficult to replace. But it makes sense to me. If I (for example) were to conserve energy, by spending a day at home, on the couch, watching television (as many people do), I would by the day’s end feel physically and mentally drained. I sometimes feel this way after I’ve been more physically and mentally active. But then again, there are evenings when I have an energy burst, I call it my second wind. I do think that in the process of exerting myself, I acquire more energy.

This is what’s enabling me to now write in the evenings, which is something that I’ve never before done consistently. On the other hand, there are some nights when I’m so tired that when I sit down and write my rough drafts, I start to doze. I’ll snap awake and then see, on the page, cursive writing flat line, off the page.

Cover of Anchorage Directory

Tonight is going to be one of those nights in which I will neither have a burst of energy nor start to fall asleep. This is that boring middle continuum state of being.

This morning, before Pete and I left to distribute books and bookcases to schools, I sat down for just ten minutes and wrote the beginning of yet another chapter of Shelf Lives. As I wrote, I realized just how easy and effortless morning writing usually is. There is no self-censoring going on, or laboring over a paragraph for fifteen or so minutes at a time.

Right now, I have introductory chapters to each of the three parts of my book. I write about my past history – this is going to provide readers with clues as to why I am so obsessive and focused on saving books. I don’t fully understand this yet myself – but I’m getting closer.

I thought that this was going to be a book about abundance, and then embedded in it would be a lot of factual information about the sheer amount of crap we acquire and don’t know what to do with. But no, this book wants to be about my insistence on finding readers for books.

I am getting tired of people telling me that people don’t read any more. Perhaps, fewer people are reading. But making books extremely accessible is going to up the reading ante

Tomorrow is a salvaging day at VCRS. Today I loaded up the back of Pete’s truck with five boxes of books that might end up being shredded and pulped. Then again, Bill might take these books to the rescue missions. Or the shelf stocker at VCRS might decide to put them on the recycling center shelves.

I hated having to part with them. I’d passed them on to Sarah Welton, who is the Pastor of the Church of the Covenant/Meeting House. She said uh uh. So perhaps the time has come for these quasi-religious books. Perhaps.

Next: 35. 2/4/23: Clockwork