I admit that most days, I stay in my house. It isn’t because I am afraid, more because I am comfortable and lazy. I have been telling myself for weeks that I need to get out of my comfort zone and out of the house and find a place to hunker down and write. A friend suggested the library and I knew it would be perfect; quiet, surrounded by books and no food allowed. But I didn’t go; I stayed in the house and watched tv and ate too much and abused myself for being fat and lazy and useless. Why I found this a better option is a total fucking mystery to me, but the weeks floated by and the pounds added up and I found myself moving at the pace of “Days of our Lives”. I could clearly see the corner I needed to turn, but I was making sure the approach was as slow as possible.
Today, I turned the corner. I packed up my brand new bag made from recycled materials and headed out to my local library. The library is about a four block walk from my house, down Sunset Blvd. On the journey I passed a flamboyant man taking Polaroids of a motel frequented by hookers, a homeless person painstakingly organizing the contents of his shopping cart, and a throng of wide-eyed star fuckers searching for Charlie Sheen outside a famous strip joint.
When I got to the library I was met with an entrance free of loitering gang members, which I took as a good sign. Maybe this library thing was actually going to work. I walked in and it was quiet; wonderful. It was also full of people reading and working at the desks and surfing the net on the library’s computers. It was perfect. I was thrilled. I headed to the children’s section.
Why the children’s section? Well, for one it is in the back of the library and I wanted to be far away from the temptation of the exit. I also like the smaller desks and chairs because my feet actually touch the floor. Yes, I am that short. And, I figured if there was going to be noise, I would prefer happy kid noise to grumbling grown up noise.
So, here I am in the kids section of my local library and I am actually writing. I think I could make a habit of this.
Stories From the Edge of Blindness 
March 21, 2011 at 2:12 am
Hehe….. your post cheered me up. I hope it goes well with your new hangout. There is something uniquely soothing and stimulating about being surrounded by books. All that promise and potential right there, aching for your fingertips to release it.
When I was a kid, I used to love going to libraries and reading uni textbooks on diverse subjects such a psychology and parallel computing. I could never completely follow most of what I was reading, but every now and then I would catch the whiff of an idea which would send my mind whirling on wonderful journeys of thought.
March 30, 2011 at 12:31 pm
I love the whole experience of books, the magic of them. Somehow I think I was always meant to be around them. i used to do the same thing as you, but more novels that were for grown ups….Back at the library today.
February 9, 2019 at 7:59 am
When I retired a few months ago I would go to the library a couple of times a week. I’ve slacked off and now I write, read or go through photos in a little corner desk in the house. I really should get back to the library. I find that I get a lot done and it’s a welcome escape from the stuffiness of the house.
There is a downside for me. I often sit in a cushy chair in a corner of the library and end up dozing off. Of course that downside is of my own making. Maybe I should do what you do and sit in the children’s section. Wrenching my 6’1″ frame into a child’s chair should keep me awake.
February 10, 2019 at 6:00 am
Oddly enough, in my neighborhood, you in the children’s section, squeezed into one of those tiny chair, probably wouldn’t make anyone bat an eyelash. I don’t however recommend it. Even for me, at 5’1, it was less than comfy. I have now found a library that has comfy chairs like yours!!!!! I haven’t been in a while but you are inspiring me to return!!!!!