We Need Books - World Book Day 2023
Yesterday morning, 1st March, I began writing a blog post about St David's Day. I was interested to learn that he is the only British/Irish saint to be born in the country that he is patron of. Also that his last words are recorded as "Be joyful, keep faith and do the little things which you have heard and seen me do". I like this thought and intention that the small actions we take in life can be just as significant for ourselves and others , as the bigger ones. "Gwnewch Y Pethau Bychain" in Welsh.
That was as far as I went with the blog however, as I was distracted by further information about St David that a biography written by an 11th century monk, Rhygyfarch claims that he lived to the ripe old age of 147 - well, I had to investigate further, I found myself spending way looking into the life and work of this medieval Welsh poet, clerk and biographer who was one of the most renowned scholars of his time. And the rest as is said, is history. My morning was taken up with me reading more on the subject, downloading and reading a book "Poetry and Protest in Medieval Wales" and deciding that I need to visit the city of St David's at the earliest opportunity and broaden my knowledge on the place. (I also spent some time looking at whether the name should be spelled St David's or St Davids as it is written as both across the internet. I settled on St David's, with the apostrophe as it is clearly 'the home of David' as in 'belonging to').
Which brings me to today, and World Book Day. What better way to reinforce the essentiality of books than to explain why yesterday I did not write what I had intended as I was busy reading and learning more than I knew before ?
I have always loved books and reading and whether it stems from family upbringing and environment or is innate in some people, who is to say. In my family growing up, everyone read, all of the time and books were treated with reverence, especially by my grandfather, who insisted we wash our hands before opening any book. I'm afraid that this practice has long gone, but it is good to remember how it was installed in us children how precious books were/are. I dreamed of a library or a book shop of my own where I could spend many hours devouring the texts of famous and less famous authors. One of my greatest pleasures as a child was to get out our family set of Arthur Mees Encyclopaedias and ask someone to give me a word or phrase to look up and research . Of course, some will say that as we didn't have the internet or television even, so long ago, REAL books were vital for learning, entertainment and pleasure. This is true and in I recently discussed the virtues of paper books versus electronic books, but all in all, I believe that as long as the word 'Book' remains in our vocabulary and experiences, we can't go far wrong.
For the rest of my day I will be reading and writing (I'm at least a few months behind what I intend writing as the reading gets in the way !) I hope that whoever is reading this may have the opportunity to relax with a good book, a cup of tea and perhaps a bar of chocolate, at some time today.
Here's to a pleasurable, educational, and entertaining World Book day, whatever you are doing.
Related past blogs :
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