I just stayed up way too late reading a book and bawling my eyes out.

I just stayed up way too late reading a book and bawling my eyes out. Again.

I'm so tired my face hurts, but I just couldn't put the book down until the end.

And no, this isn't the first time this has happened to me. I'm a bit of a sucker for a good book.

Honestly, even as a kid I would sometimes defy curfew with a flashlight so I could read "just one more chapter."

I was an English major in college, which mostly meant I got to read a bunch of great books and talk about them (and write long papers about them).

But at some point in my college career I realized I wasn't writing "typical" English papers.

I loved finding the themes and connections throughout the book, sure, but I loved to write about the characters and their relationships to each other and to the story. I was basically writing psychology papers based in literature.

So I guess it's not surprising that I've built my whole career understanding, supporting, and facilitating all the different ways humans can relate to each other.

And somehow every fiction book I read teaches me something new - or reminds me of something - that I can bring back to my work.

At the moment I'm not certain what this book will bring into my work... Maybe it's a reminder that we have one life - and spending it in survival mode, just getting through, is a choice we don't have to keep making.

What's a book you couldn't put down?


Image: Me in my PJs making my best “I’m awake” face to try to convince myself to start the day 😜