More books home

 I think my plan of loading up a bag (or two) of books from the big totes I had them stored in is preferable to trying to lift the whole tote. (I think when I took those over there I did wind up hurting myself a little, they were too heavy - maybe some of my pains earlier this year were me just overdoing things)

But it's nice to find where some of the books I was missing got to

I was pretty sure my copy of the Folio version of The Hundred and One Dalmations was over there, but I didn't know where my copy of The Ravenmaster (about the guy who tends the ravens at Tower of London) was, or the National Parks book. And I had even forgotten buying that Mrs. Gaskill book.

Right now, I'm most actively reading "The Color of Magic" (I guess I have a US edition; I was remembering the title with the UK spelling but my book has "Color"). It's entertaining. More slapstick than I expected and Rincewind seems like kind of a screw up. But it's still entertaining. 

I also started Joy Clarkson's "Aggressively Happy," which is a somewhat faith-oriented book (I *think* Clarkson has a divinity degree) about living in a world where bad things happen and being happy anyway. I was attracted to it because I follow her on twitter and so far it doesn't seem to fall into the trap (as I see it) that some "faith guide to understanding this fallen world" books fall into of either telling you it's your fault if you're not happier (because you're insufficiently grateful for the good things you have) or that suffering is just an illusion in the face of the greater good (the whole "pie in the sky by and by when we die" idea)

And yeah, I find those kinds of things a little hard to take sometimes because when you're in a bad place, when you've been beaten up by stuff in life, being told "oh, just be more grateful" - well, that's about as helpful as the people telling someone with cancer that they got it because they didn't think positively enough (which is something I  have, occasionally, seen people do).

Also, with the way my brain is wired, I'd rather try to UNDERSTAND (so: read stuff like theodicy) than just be exhorted. Sometimes telling someone "feel better' doesn't make them feel better. 

(It's not unlike James 2:16, which in the NIV reads as "If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it?")

But for me, hearing about other people who have endured unpleasant things maybe similar to what I'm dealing with* helps me endure. Or reading what writers of the past wrote about similar situations. Or, as I said, theodicy.

(*but not DRASTICALLY worse, because then that veers into "you should feel GUILTY for feeling bad, look, you really have it very good" which is also unhelpful when you're sinking into the Swamp of Sadness)

Though really, sometimes, when I'm sad, the best thing would just to be have someone to sit quietly with me. Not try to fix things, because sometimes things just can't be fixed, but knowing that there's someone else there fundamentally demonstrating "I recognize you exist" and that helps.