The best thing I've done for my mental health in years has been to start spending two hours a day working from my local library. Those places have healing energy.
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LOVE our local library! I so relate! I look so forward to my time just kicking around there, and always brag about our library (for such a small town) to visitors.
So do I. No reminders of what needs done at home to distract me, just peace, relative quiet (the copy machine has a really loud voice), and an awesome local history section when I need to research.
I feel like in a world where it’s easier than ever to not see anyone, putting in the extra effort to reconnect with the people around us is what’s healing us.
More than ever these days I feel the importance of connecting with other people even when it's non-verbal. Mutually agreeing to sit in silence and respect each others' quiet study time is a form of connection.
Interesting idea
I like it. I'm looking for something different that is not purely technical nor purely data driven. Trying to cut out so much of the noise.
Someone I work with just today said "my local library still smells like they just stopped letting people smoke in it", and the visceral, genuine happiness I felt from the idea of that scent (along with just old paperbacks) was so nice.
Yeah, sometimes, it’s good to just get out in the world and rub elbows with humanity. When I was Writer in Residence for the City of Mesa Public Libraries in Arizona, I met, or just sat and observed, book lovers from a cross section of the AZ population.
Libraries encourage it! Every library card, every patron visit, every reference request, every time you use a computer or our high speed internet -- it boosts our numbers, which determines our funding. Use them or lose them -- libraries need you!!
When I was studying for the bar exam in 2011, I needed good Internet service and it wasn't available at home. My local librarian agreed to let me study there, even when it wasn't officially open. (As long as she was there). Xxoo
I’ve done that before but not recently. When I was writing an academic thesis in the 1980s I had overdue books from 8 libraries and I still have some of the anguished letters to prove it.
I do this occasionally too. A couple of times a week. Working full time at home right now and I find it incredibly lonely. So to go somewhere else for a while just for a change of scenery helps a lot
A friend posted earlier about how she spent several hours at the main branch of the Allen County Public Library for some mental health. As a retired librarian who worked in that building, I could understand perfectly. I miss those days. Time to return for a long visit
Well said sir. I personally swim a mile in the morning (6am), and a mile in the evening (5:30pm). I know for those 2 miles, I'm unavailable. Just me and water. And I'm in no rush to look at my phone thereafter.
I was thinking of doing this!!!Being in/working from home all the time drives me a bit batty. I thought being at the library would help me focus and soothe my senses.
I do this occasionally but never when I am writing fiction because I pace too much and sometimes jump up and down with glee or fall to the fall in hopelessness.
My husband tutors a few students at the library.Goes early and comes late. Now he’s buying used books there. 🙄 I took so many to the used book store b4 we moved- downsizing for retirement. Oof!
I volunteer as a docent at our botanical gardens. I find it very healing to be around plants, hearing birds and watching the wildlife. I like the library idea. I have always loved being in libraries ...and browsing Liquor stores!
I've written the entirety of two books at my local library. It features nooky little individual desks and a soothing HVAC hum. And if I want a pat on the back, I can go look at my books on the shelves.
Use it or lose it. Never had a library in my village. A library van used to visit weekly, would bring any book you wanted. Sadly, even that service was taken away from us years ago.
It was very exciting when the library van came out to our rural NC area every other week in the early 70’s. It was a 25 mile drive otherwise. Especially in the summer when school was out.
As much as I liked my uni campus library, it just didn’t have that warm, healing energy that the local libraries had. I am blessed to have 3 in my city.
Now that I have been out of school for years, I really should find some hobbies or side-interest to work on from my laptop at the library.
I miss the old-fashioned card indexes. Nothing beats the smell of a library. All the books😍. I have a Kindle, but I honestly prefer actual books. Turning the pages. I used to spend all day at the library when I was younger. I need to visit more often
My grandma aka my person, was a librarian. She would take me to work with her when I was visiting. Special times and memories, I love libraries, the quiet, the smell, just all of it!
There is a great place in Quincy MA called the Prison Book Project. Volunteers answered requests for books from prisoners. Wonderful project. Kindness.
That's me when I decided to spend more time at the stable where I'm riding, not only staying a while after my lessons. There are both animals I love and people who love them too, and I get to teach kids about what I know
I have also discovered this at my local library in Napa since I moved here 18 months ago.
I visit it at least 3 times a week. they also have an incredible vinyl selection here to borrow!
So true. Going out and about is already a great start for those who work from home or in an office. Also, it being a library, being surrounded by books and other people working has a motivational effect as well!
The most beautiful library I've ever been in was definitely San Diego.
The best most beautiful view, Lahaina Maui
Lost in the 🔥💔 but I loved hanging there waiting for the boat home.
They seriously do. I used to to one of the main branches of the Chicago public library to just chill and read books on space. Some of the most relaxing times of my life.
Yeah man it was the main branch in the loop by the lasalle street station. It's called Harold washington library center now, mightve always been haha. Loved that top floor with the glass roof :)
I started doing this three weeks ago and cant believe the difference it has made in my life! I look forward to my time there! So cool to see your post articulating exactly how I feel about it. I also charge my hybrid car for free in their lot while I’m in the library which is a total bonus. 👍😊
I been reading a lot now too. I started reading 📚 "can't hurt me by David Goggins " and I really like it. I'm on page 75 now! Had to re-read a lot of it but I actually am finding a lot of healing in letting myself be invested in someone else's struggle and spirit for a little bit.
A few years back I lost my job and made my library (and a specific seat) my “good vibe” place for my search. I still remember that time place with fondness and visit it from time to time - I should get back there…
Growing up in the 60's and 70's, multiple trips to the library every week was my norm, and I'd stay one to two hours, browsing, reading, selecting. Perhaps I should lean back into that too.
I’ve just joined a library near my work and am spending an hour a day reading there and it’s the best thing I’ve done for the old mental health in a very long time. Inspiring and calming at the same time
I spend at least an hour every Saturday at my local library, either catching up with my latest read (currently “Framed” by John Grisham) or working on my newest hobby - building my family tree via Ancestry.
The library has always been my happy place, since the he age of 6! ❤️❤️ sadly, most kids will never experience the magical & wondrous ride of reading a book in a library. As Einstein said, imagination is more important than logic.
I wish ours stayed open long enough for more people to do that. They cut our hours last year due to our funding becoming increasingly tenuous. I really miss it.
Hhmm. That’s his is such a cool idea.. what a wild thought. I try to find a quiet coffee shop to work in yet here is a total treasure already waiting. Thanks
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I like it. I'm looking for something different that is not purely technical nor purely data driven. Trying to cut out so much of the noise.
I can confirm this. They offer so much to so many.
But yesterday I went and there was a whole room full of moms learning about baby care with their adorable squad of babies.
Libraries are fantastic resources and should be cherished.
Now that I have been out of school for years, I really should find some hobbies or side-interest to work on from my laptop at the library.
I visit it at least 3 times a week. they also have an incredible vinyl selection here to borrow!
The best most beautiful view, Lahaina Maui
Lost in the 🔥💔 but I loved hanging there waiting for the boat home.
Books are my forever friends.