An Afternoon With My Books

Highs And Lows In Productivity And A Much Needed Respite

One of the photos I took today

Hello, my lovely bookish friend!!!

Welcome back to my little bookish corner of the internet where I talk all things books. Are you reading anything this week?

Now, this was not supposed to be today's letter. I had another letter, written and all ready to go today. But then something happened and I decided to write this one instead.

For the past few weeks, I’ve been going through a phase where I have zero energy for anything. I barely open my bookstagram, substack or threads. I keep my posts ready in advance, so I can keep posting, but that’s all. I’m not even reading. I simply do not have the energy.

It happens to me all the time, I go through a phase of very high-energy and then it’s followed by a phase of very low-energy, they go in cycles. So, whenever I’m going through a low-energy phase, all I try is to make it through because I know it’ll be followed by my next high-energy phase. But still, I absolutely hate feeling like this. I’m constantly thinking about how I’m not getting anything done and feeling terrible, and as a result am not getting anything done. It’s a vicious cycle.

Anyway, I had a letter written for today, but I needed a photo to go with it. I generally take my photos on Sunday morning. But I spent this morning sleeping. I didn’t want to go through the trouble of bringing out the books, setting them up with the props, and taking photos. But since I really needed a photo for my letter, after lunch I dragged myself. 

I set things up one by one and took the books out and started taking some photos. The first few photos came out very bad, so I kept taking them again and again. As I did, I found myself slowly getting sucked into the task of taking the photos (I’m no photographer, but I do the best I can with my phone camera). I took photos, checked them, rearranged the books, took out some more books from the shelf, set them up and just took a lot of photos. After finishing taking the photos, I dusted and cleaned all my books and even the shelf. 

That one and a half hours I spent with my books, I wasn’t thinking about how I’m so useless for not getting anything done and how I need to get my act together. It was a nice little respite.

We live in a world that's constantly pushing us to do more, be more, achieve more. But even machines need breaks, and we are only humans. I know this all. That’s why during my high-energy phases, I get as much done as I can. So that I can allow myself to take a breather during my low-energy phases. But still, I can’t keep myself from feeling like an absolute waste of space when I’m not getting things done. I wish it wasn’t so, but it unfortunately is. I know I’m not out of the slump yet, but taking the photos gave me a little boost. Hopefully with the new week, I’ll be able to feel better.

What about you? Do you also go through phases of super-low energy where you struggle to get things done? Don’t forget to let me know.

For more of my bookish ramblings, you can also find me on Instagram

Also, if you’d like me to write for you, you can contact me at joyiewrites@gmail.com

That’s it for today, I'll be back in your inbox next week.

Until then,

Joyie 🌻