Wednesday 16 March 2011

Books

So I went to a bookstore after work today and I happened to wander through the self-help section.  It suddenly occured to me that the entire purpose of the self-help section is to make us all believe that we need help.  You find yourself suddenly surrounded by books telling you how to look better, feel better, get better hair, and skin, get better organized, be better with your money, be a better lover, get along better with your family, and even more books telling you that you need a better relationship, a better house, a better job, better clothes, and in general, a better life.  But what if the life you have is just fine?  What if, like me, you have a decent job that (almost) pays the bills, a very messy but nice apartment, a great relationship with an amazing man, a loving family and great friends?  Why do these books always make me feel like something is missing, or that something needs to be improved?  At some point along the line, good became not good enough.  The truth is, the book I bought about managing my money is sitting somewhere in my apartment, under a pile of clutter no doubt, almost entirely unread.  And I only made it about half way through the book to make me a better lover.  Maybe I need to buy a book on finishing what I start...but I'd probably never read it.  So sue me if I like my books silly, and enjoy them for their entertainment value and occasional trashy love scenes, and not for the life lessons they offer.  It might make me a bad person but I don't really believe that anyone ever got a new boyfriend or a better job sitting in the self-help section of the bookstore.  Maybe someone needs to write a book about that.

3 comments:

  1. Just happened to be wandering through huh? I don't think the kind of help we need can even be found on the shelves of the self-help section of the book store. I'm glad you decided to start blogging. Feels good to type somethings out and even better when others enjoy reading it.

    I'm officially your very first "follower". Looking forward to where you may lead :)

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  2. Haha thanks for the laugh! Welcome to the blogging world!

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  3. Oh second comment....I always laugh when you find a "How to make a better budget" in the discount section....now wouldn't the first lesson in the book be to not impulse buy...?!?

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