“I don’t read anything anymore.”
That was my absolute first thought when Danielle told me the fabulous concept for BiblioSmiles back in January. BibS, as I like to refer to it, is a site dedicated to celebrate the joy of reading within an online community. It’s brand spanking new, but I see big things ahead for it. A ton of people have already submitted stuff like reviews and personal essays and even more have expressed interest in contributing. And oh man, I immediately wanted to be a part of it.
Seriously, it’s the only thing I have.
My second thought was, “I have nothing to contribute.” I work at a PR and brand marketing company, where ‘office hours,’ are a joke, so I end up with a 60 hour work week stretched between HQ and home. How am I supposed to do a book review or talk about my favorite author when the last thing I read for pleasure was “The Year Ahead: 2014” edition of Bloomberg Businessweek?
So I provided my ‘professional’ opinion *cough* on things like contributors and blogging platforms and social media outlets and how her logo should be a replica of the Teletubbies Sun-Baby except with a picture of her shinning face. I know Gunnar put a lot of work into the current logo, but I still think mine had some potential.
So happy! Nicely done, sir.
Editor Danielle was kind enough to label me on her About page as “Goddess and General Sense-Talker,” which is the greatest title I’ve ever held.
As I read through the titles of pending posts and heard the aspirations of soon-to-be contributors, I thought how special and personal they were, and how much the ideas reflected the person creating them. Danielle’s, “Books That Made Me Sob Recently,” Readers, that’s probably the best description of her I could have ever given. Gabriele Boland’s “Sprit Animals,” I didn’t even need to read the post to hear the cogs in her brain whirring and see the smile in her eyes. I’m so in love with this site and its future, I just desperately wanted a post that reflected my identity. But I mean, who cares about Inc. Magazine?
Then it hit me. I care about Inc. Magazine.
I love coming across issues of Forbes and Fast Company in waiting rooms and at the library. Because I love reading about goings-on in the fast-paced world of business and technology and entrepreneurship. Just like Danielle loves books that make her weep and Gaby loves creative, inspirational pieces. Like Andrew Marinaccio can analyze thought-provoking literature and Alyson Lopez can craft stories about what reading means in the life of a teacher.
Courtesy of D.Villano, Freshman Year. Ed and I reading for funsies.
As the slogan of the site goes, “Reading may be a solitary experience.” It continues, you’ll notice, “but the joy we receive from it should be shared!” That idea is so important to me. That joy is what BiblioSmiles is dedicated to celebrating. That though people gravitate towards different stacks in the library, that some have sections of bookstores they never have and never will visit, that some consume everything they can get their hands on and some lackadaisically enjoy whatever happens to cross their path – whatever they read, they read because they want to. Because it brings them joy.
So whether you’re tackling Joyce’s Ulysses, (props to you, overachiever) or you get a kick out of the back of your morning cereal box, read it because you enjoy it. Never read because it will change peoples’ perception of you or you want to seem like something you’re not or whatever other silly reason there might be do something you don’t love.
Maybe one day I’ll actually write the post I said I was going to write when I sat down at my computer, which was describing how I came to be in love with trade publications. But for now, I’m just going to recommend you pick up the November-January issue of Bloomberg Businessweek if you actually want to know how the hell to get a Bitcoin? No takers? Don’t worry. It totally crashed anyway.
My Life After Purchase 