2026 - 001 Musing | Books as Memento Mori
There was a feng shui article I've read a long time ago that featured practical instruction for furniture layout inside the bedroom. One of the tips said that we should avoid putting too many books inside our bedrooms. It relegated books as active energy (yang) similar to living plants, and therefore not recommended for a good night's sleep. Books are widely correlated with wisdom and knowledge. Wisdom and knowledge are expansive life forces according to Eastern traditions. Things we don't want during moments of rest.
Sometimes I really get that advice. The way that sharp table corner in my room invokes a low-grade anxiety every time I picture my balls on an inevitable collision course with it, which is bound to happen due to pure stupidity. Lol. I see my pile of books in my room and it has become a memento mori of sorts. So many books, so little time. Cliché. If I'm gonna live until 80 years of age, that would be approximately 4000 weeks. I've already shed more than 2000 weeks. Probably I will have 450 months still left (if I'm lucky) and my reading pace is not even close to one book a month. Haha.
The low-grade anxiety is not only tied to my own mortality, but it is also bound to my wickedness and happiness. People who read are usually greedy bunch. "You learn how little you know," James Baldwin answered when asked what increases with knowledge. I want to know everything but there’s a limit. At this stage I guess hoarding books is now a kind of kink; my middle finger project to the Many-Faced God.
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