This is the second year in a row that I’ve been part of the Charleston TEDx selection and interview committee. My interview partner and I interviewed 12 applicants over a three-day period the week before Thanksgiving.
It’s an honor to be part of this process. But I noticed something distinctly different compared to last year. Most of the people we talked with held a similar stance within their “big idea.” They proposed that technology is moving at such a rapid speed that we all need to “get on board” to not be left behind. There was also a pro-AI (artificial intelligence) position from many of the applicants as well.
I was surprised.
I guess in part because I read many Substack writers who are leaving social media and seek solace away from the constant noise of technology and the latest app. But also, it makes me wonder if I really have become the stereotypical old lady who clutches her metaphorical pearls, shakes her head, and wonders where the good ol’ days have gone?
Brooke Siem mentioned the book The Medium Is The Message in her recent Substack. I’ve now added that book to my “to be read” list because of Brooke’s post. She said:
“It’s been six months since I’ve stopped consuming any news or current events, and I cannot overemphasize how much this choice has positively affected my life.”
I unplugged from cable TV in 2017. The financial savings alone are significant ($12K) having not paid a cable bill for almost a decade. I haven’t watched local or national news for seven years. In 2021, I ditched my TV altogether. It’s a glorious thing. I highly recommend not having a TV in any room of your house.
I want to read and hear about ideas and experiences from actual human beings, not machines and computer-generated images or filtered propaganda through screens. I also know 1AI publishing is happening within the alcohol-free and wellness space, which I abhor. My Substack and any book or future writing I do is not generated from artificial intelligence. It comes from me! You’ll always see my original thoughts, ideas, hard work (writing and re-writing), research, and creative process that I put on the page or type through the keyboard with my own hand using my own mind.
Last week I reserved a bunch of fiction books from the library. I want to get back into reading actual books written by real (I hope!) people.
Daisy Buchanan’s podcast You’re Booked has inspired me to return to my beloved hobby of voraciously reading fiction. I love listening to Daisy’s interviews with various authors. They spend an hour each episode just talking about books! Each conversation is a treasure trove of “to be read” recommendations. I’ve always been a sucker for good book suggestions from well-read people. Daisy provides exactly that with great British accents to boot.
Reading slows me down. It’s a nervous system regulator, for sure.
I used to read around 30 fiction books a year. 2One year I read 70 books! Now, with my iPhone in hand most of the time, I’m lucky to average 10 books in a year. Since 2016, my fiction reading has greatly diminished.
Grace Hamman, author of the newly published (October 2023) book, Jesus Through Medieval Eyes says,
“Everyone — liberal or conservative or something else entirely, any gender, age, or race — will be surprised by what they encounter if they seriously attend to a book written several hundred years ago. Present-day dichotomies no longer neatly apply. We may be shocked to find out that we have painstakingly constructed histories to fit our ideologies, histories that would have seemed strange to the people living within them. These moments of shock and surprise are gifts. We need this gift of surprise more than ever today, living as we do in a highly polarized culture. Surprise can break one out of preconceived notions about the way the world works, about the way God works, about the way people work.”
I like Grace’s podcast as well. She begins each interview asking her guests what their favorite book is from 50 or more years ago.
This motivated me to add more classics to my “to be read” list. I love Jane Eyre and To Kill a Mockingbird. These are two of my all-time favorite books. But there are so many classics I haven’t read.
Here are some classics I’ve recently selected and added to my “to be read” list.
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott— I’ve had this book since I was a child but never read it. I started it last weekend, and oh my, what a delight. I’m thoroughly enjoying the world of Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. I get why it’s a classic. Have you read it? Such fun.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley — I absolutely adored the stage play in London with Benedict Cumberbatch, but I’ve yet to read the actual book.
Persuasion by Jane Austin — Grace Hamman mentioned this particular Austin novel on her podcast so of course, I want to read it!
Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell — This is pretty much required reading since I’ve moved to the South, right? Either way, I do feel like many people say it’s one of their all-time favorites.
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier— I’ve heard rave reviews for years, but haven’t read it yet.
Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer — I bought this and started reading it when I was in Canterbury, England, in 2019, but I need to finish it.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith — Always heard great things, have yet to read.
Anything Agatha Christie — I need your suggestions on the best Agatha Christie book to read first. I’ve seen the movie, Murder on the Orient Express, but I’ve never read one of her books. It’s time!
The Princess and the Goblin by George MacDonald — Another classic that I think would help round out my classic book repertoire. Plus, I admit, I like that MacDonald was a Scottish Protestant minister in the 1800’s.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle — I bought this book during a Black Friday bookstore sale in Colorado this Thanksgiving break. I read it in one day. It’s a book I see on many classic book lists. It was a sweet story. But sci-fi/fantasy isn’t my first love for genres. I give it three out of five stars.
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Are you someone who loves all things technology and the seemingly exciting future of artificial intelligence? Or is there something about Wintering and creating a Hygge season for yourself that inspires you to seek out time away from screens? To sit in a cozy chair, with a hot chocolate or tea, warm blanket, and a good book to escape into? If you’re the later, I of course would love to hear about your favorite fiction book(s) that you read this year and any classic books that you love as well!
You are reading Healthy Discoveries by Jolene Park, a newsletter about life after Gray Area Drinking. Nourishing the nervous system. Unplugging from social media. Exploring a faith-based life. Sacred rhythms and rest. Navigating menopause, burnout, and trauma. Food as medicine and root cause medicine. I’m also on Instagram, and have a popular TED talk on Gray Area Drinking. You can support my work by subscribing here.
My friend Ann Moller just posted an Instagram Live on this very topic — “What will you choose? Machines or human creativity”? She is speaking out about ChatGPT from a screen actor point of view. I agree and support her position 100%.
I’m not a mother, nor do I home school children. But, I liked this woman’s calling out of “book gluttony” and over consumption of books (I might identify ever so slightly, lol). Yet, she echoes the value of reading across disciplines and various time periods, which is validating.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Healthy Discoveries By Jolene Park to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.