Sometimes I leave my newspapers (and magazines)newspaperstack unread and eventually pitch them.  I have no illusions.  If I miss one story or one article, my life goes on.  I never forgot what Thoreau said in “Walden“:  ‘why read the same thing rehashed over and over?’

There is a glut of information out there.  One thing has never changed:  the saturation point.  There is so much information you can absorb at one time.  As King Solomon says in the Bible:  you can be weary of too much study.

magazinestacktallThese words were written several thousand years ago.  Nothing has changed in that regard.  There is so much you can study, read.  You still have to live your life.  Sure you can learn from newspapers, books and magazines but if you do not integrate that knowledge into your life it is all for naught.

Thus, I have no reservations about not getting to any written material.  There is so much you can read and so much you can absorb at one time and you certainly have to live your life.  I have absolutely no guilt about leaving any newspapers, (etc.) unread.

booksoldI have more than enough unread books and that does not include the steady stream of daily newspapers and magazines that come to my household.  Do I feel guilty I can not keep up with my reading, that I never read the complete newspaper from cover to cover?  Certainly not.  I am reminded of King Solomon’s words in the Bible and I am not sure I can quote that verbatim:  he says we can become weary of too much study.  I read what I most want to read.  I scan newspapers and magazines reading what most interests me.  I do not feel compelled to read every word.  That would be a trap and make reading onerous instead of the joy it is.  The words of Solomon written over 2,000 years ago have not changed.  In an era of instant communication one thing has not changed through the ages–the saturation point.  Each person can absorb so much information and then becomes sated.

Life is always a balancing act.  Reading is only one part of my life.  I need time to absorb and reflect on the significance of what I read and for that matter I need time to simply reflect periodically where I am going or have been.  That takes time and often quiet.  Reading is only one thing I do and is punctuated by empty spaces.  I never feel guilty I have not read enough or thoroughly enough.  It is all relative.  One has to live his life.  Ideas are only one thing.  Then one has to put into practice what he/she learns.  That is only possible if reflection takes place.  And that, of course, takes time.