A Chair of My Own

Reading is so important, so necessary to the nourishment of the mind and spirit that I feel it should be as seriously ceremonial as a church service.  Ideally we need a comfortable chair with back and arm support, and good, well directed light, a rest for the book if it is too heavy to hold comfortably, a small table with our favourite drink to hand, and silence and solitude.  It is an ideal few of us are able to obtain.  

from the August 15th entry of Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography by P.D. James

I vividly remember when this quote was carried in Christian Century back in 2006.  I remember thinking I needed to purchase a designated "reading chair."  I longed for the little leather chair that used to sit in the old Union Seminary library.  That was the perfect chair, low to the ground, old, broken in leather.  When you sat down in it you knew you were sitting with your head already in heaven.  But that chair is long gone.  

Sometime in the future when I have a designated studio/wood shop I will make an Arts and Craft style Morris Chair - or I may stumble upon one at an estate sale.  I have plans for a chair stashed away in my desk but I am a ways away from the skills to build it (plus all of my woodworking equipment is locked away in an undisclosed location).  

This Christmas I was gifted a chair (with ottoman) of my own, a designated reading chair.  It fits the necessary requirements for reading (James' mediation on a reading chair reminds me of the Episcopal what must happen for a service to be legit).  The trial period last night proved that this chair has what it takes for serious reading.  All that is left to do is taunt the ever growing stack of books.  I can now, however, with confidence say: Bring it on books of 2012!  

Now, if I can only convince #2 and #3 to keep to the couch - lollipops worked yesterday evening.