One Thing to Improve: Reading
Today’s prompt for Diabetes Blog Week asks us to identify something we could improve on in our diabetes management.
Mine is not reading enough. In two different ways, no less.
(“Mom, doesn’t this guy have a Masters in Library Science? And doesn’t he have a job in a library, even though it’s not as a librarian?” “I’m a bit confused, too, Son. Let’s see how he explains his sorry self.”)
The first way in which I don’t read enough is that I’m really bad about reading my fellow diabetes bloggers. Thus, I miss out on the inspiration and information my counterparts offer and I also miss out on the ideas for posts of my own. Plus, I kind of feel that I’m not holding up my end of an unspoken bargain: I love being read and I love getting comments, but I read few posts and comment on even fewer. I suppose I probably read ten to twenty posts a week. I recognize that it’s become impossible to read all the diabetes blogs (and that’s an excellent thing), but I could and should be doing better.
I also don’t read enough about diabetes. While I’ve never wanted to be the sort of blogger who educates on the medical end of things, I’d like to know more of the science and current treatments both for my own understanding and because I’d occasionally like to use a greater knowledge base to back up a point I want to make. I really admire those bloggers with a good grasp of disease mechanisms and treatments.
For forty years I read books voraciously. The last few years, though, I’ve read very little long-form prose. This may be from spending my days reading and composing emails, it may be increased involvement in social media, or it may be somehow related to aging. Whatever it is, it grieves me somewhat. And, whatever it is, I need to find ways to step it up.
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May 16th, 2012 - 21:19
Hey, Bob! It’s not an easy thing, to read all the dblogs or to even just read about diabetes. It can be a little much, especially when you’re LIVING with it everyday. That’s the last thing you WANT to read about in your free time… I know that’s a reason I never went into a career focused on diabetes, although it’s ironic how I’ve ended up there anyhow. Still, I read so much but have found myself not reading some of the things I really want to… Like classic literature, poetry, simple creative writing where my roots are at. That’s my goal, actually it has been for a bit. But I thank you for reminding me of this. Best your way, my friend. And don’t worry about the unspoken bargain: You being who you are is enough!
May 17th, 2012 - 11:39
I’m with you on reading blogs. This week I’ve been reading quite a few because of Dblog Week and I’m loving it! However, I can’t keep this up or the dust bunnies will rule the house and the dandelions will take over my yard. It’s hard to find a balance but I feel so much better when I’ve had a chance to read a few blogs.
May 20th, 2012 - 12:03
That is a difficult balance! I used to keep track of the books I read every year, but it started to be such an embarrassing list because I was spending more time reading online than I was reading actual books.
And now the books I do read are mostly electronic too thanks to the iPad!