Directed Reading

Life Force

I like the sound of the phrase “Directed Reading.” It sounds as though a mystical force outside ourselves is influencing the tug of war waged between our better and lesser selves, as though a mysterious guide is lighting the path of higher consciousness in our all important reading selections.

It’s much more down to earth than that.

When I was working toward my master’s degree in Social Work, my focus was a little outside of the box. Rather than learning to do case work with individuals, I was learning about community development, micro-economics and non-profit organizational structures. The classes in those areas were sparse, so I had the opportunity, along with my professor, to develop some of my own curriculum. The course was called Directed Reading. The books I chose reflected my particular interests and yet were geared toward a specific outcome, equipping me with the expertise I needed.

That experience prepared me for some of the writing projects I’ve tackled. The book I'm finishing is shot through with so many angles and perspectives that I’ve had to delve into a variety of subjects, like the section dealing with island life. As I rifled through book titles that might inform my research, it was as though I was being invited into a friendship with the island that I was doing my primary research from. My “Directed Reading” included James Mitchner’s fictional opus Hawaii, Simon Winchester’s Krakatowa, several books on the history of the island itself and one on native dance. The section on war led me to a whole series of articles, books and websites that uncovered General McArthur’s strategy for the Pacific Theater in WWII.

I prefer to use books for the research I do. I like having the larger context that a book brings. And running my fingers over the printed page seems to bring things closer to home. But having the world at my fingertips online is an irresistible pull. I’ve been beckoned down into more rabbit holes than I can count that way, and I’m not sorry. According to Now, Discover Your Strengths by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton, my primary signature strength is learning, so these forays into unexpected rabbit holes always serve me well. The challenge is to stay “directed.”

Driving across the Chihuahuan and Sonoran deserts on a recent trip from Texas to California my signature strength got the best of me. As a passenger, I had full command of the search button on my phone and discovered the true definition and nature of the Continental Divide and insights on the Sagauro cactus, which is the American icon of the Western Frontier, can live to be up to 200 years old, grows only one inch in the first 10 years, can grow up to 75 feet high and though its roots extend only four to six inches deep into the ground, can extend outward as far as the height of the cactus. Yeah, so you can see how out of control this signature strength of learning can be.

Being an information junkie is often advantageous, but it can also be a stone of stumbling. Finding a way to channel all this information energy is the challenge. In The Upanishads, Eknath Easwaran’s translation of ancient wisdom texts, the concept of our life force is portrayed as a river. While channels drain energy away from a river’s life force, tributaries feed that energy. As we learn to train our curiosity and interests to become tributaries feeding into the “river,” and avoid channels that tend to drain, we serve a life-giving outcome.

How would you like to direct your reading toward an outcome you are seeking?

Writing prompt for the week: Tributary