Last night I made my debut venture to the 'Brixton Book Jam' an event which meets quarterly allowing authors to read extracts of their work. It was a busy event with all of the seating occupied and with much of an intellectual buzz about the room. People chatted and laughed joyously among themselves. People wore flowy clothes, old jeans, large hats. People drank cider, red wine, probably vodka too - it was an inviting event. An evening frequented by intellectuals but available to all. Hosted in the dark and quirky Hootennany pub, Brixton, the venue sports a stage and a grubby-come-cool feel about it. As one of the younger members of the crowd I took a seat and waited to be inspired.10 readers took the stage, each reading 5 minutes from their work. The writing was extremely varied from the hilarious memoirs of growing up as a lesbian to a child's perspective growing up poor in Ireland to the tales of a bereaved mother. There was something special about sitting in a room and listening to someone tell you a story, something special about being immersed in complete silence, being in a full room but feeling as though it is just you and the characters of the tale present. How often do you get to experience that as an adult?
As a fond reader and admirer of spoken word, I often knock myself for not spending enough time reading. Currently, I am reading Maya Angelou's second autobiography and thoroughly enjoying Angelou's sophisticated and humorous story-telling. With this said, I often seem to find myself confessing to friends in despair; 'oh I really need to read more, there are so many books I want to read, I just don't have the time.' The truth of the matter is, we have all the time in the world, it is just how we choose to use our time. Granted, on some days we may be busier than others; there may be housework to attend to, work meetings to sit it, people to meet, classes to attend - we are busy people. When we're tired, we may want to spend the few spare hours a day we have to ourselves, sprawling out on the sofa and watching something light to loosen us up a little, allowing us to float away. A
book can also take us to this place. I was tired and feeling a little worse for wear when I attended the Book Jam. Earlier in the day I had had some injections for my upcoming travels and really I could have done with a quiet and early night. However, I choose to go along and to listen to the author's work. It's good to try new things and to keep your week varied. Variation keeps life exciting.
I was moved to tears and to abstract thoughts through listening to words. With a mere five minutes reading, I was transported to a different world. I was in a new environment, attempting to comprehend someone else's story. I didn't feel tired, I felt awake, engaged and reviltalised. Listening to the speakers powerfully project their words was a beautiful experience. Words educate, stories inform and can allow us to have a new perspective, to take a new stance.
Read, read and read some more. Never stop learning and never stop trying to understand a different point of view.
