Have you ever read book(s) that changed your life? Do you know any books that changed the course of humanity? Some of the books I can think of are the Bible and the Quran, of course. But, how about Simone de Beauvoir’s The Second Sex; Karl Marx’s The Communist Manifesto; Jalaleddin Rumi’s Mathnavi; Arabian Nights; Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species; Dante’s Divine Comedy; Or how about Daily Rituals Women at Work: 143 artists on how they paint, write, perform, direct, choreograph, dsign, sculpt, compose dance, etc. by Mason Currey?
I have read all of those books – books that have influenced human life and human thinking. For me, none of them was as impactful as Daily Rituals Women at Work. I started reading the book about a month ago. Since then, I’ve become a writer.
The story of the book
We got new bookshelves in our house. I love it so much; especially now that I can house my beloved books in a comfortable place where they belong. I brought boxes of books from garage to arrange in the new shelves.
I was also able to shelve my father-in-law’s antique Persian poetry books that he collected in Iran and shipped to the U.S. in the early 2000s.
The problem with my new bookshelves was that I couldn’t fill all the rows.
I have plenty books in my home office, which I use as reference for my work. I need them handy to look up authors’ names that I’m interviewing, or double-check book titles when I write my book reviews. I keep them in my cheap IKEA bookshelves in my office. I couldn’t retire them to the fancy bookshelves in the living room, which looked ugly and incomplete with two rows of empty shelves.
Twice Sold Tales
On a lazy Sunday afternoon, I took my daughter, and her two besties, to Twice Sold Tales in Seattle. I love this second-hand bookstore, first for its name, second for its price.
As I held the door for the girls to enter, I made a mental commitment to never exceed $3 or $4 per book.
Before noticing all the books, the girls got excited about the cats inside the store, rather than the unending rows of books in different rooms. I let them play with the mouse-catchers while I browsed books, walking within the narrow hallways of books on various subjects. I got immediately drunk by inhaling the tranquilness smell of old paper. I was swimming in ecstasy.
I walked down the aisles. I tried to select the books I had already read, or those whose authors I knew. With every book I picked, I checked inside the cover to learn about its price. I couldn’t find a book under $7.50. I had to adjust my commitment. I decided to pick books no more than $8.
I purchased around 67 books, and placed them into the two large sturdy bags I brought them with me. Simultaneously, I reminded the girls that they could pick any book they wanted. But, they were bored of chasing the cats. They wanted to go back.
“How could you get bored in a place like this?” I protested. However, I was already done by then. I was waiting for the cashier to finish up with the customer in front of me when I saw Currey’s Daily Rituals Women at Work.
Revelations
Have you ever been in a space where you’ve felt a power greater than yourself is pulling you to act. And, in your mind, and heart, you know that by doing what your heart tells you to do, you are going to get one step closer to God?
Somehow, I felt “this book is going to change my life.” I grabbed the turquoise-bluish book and looked the inside. It was the most expensive book in my pack at $12.50.
According to the personal contract with yours truly, I felt was committed to stay within my boundaries of spending. But, how about this damn book that I feel it is going to change my life?
“F… the commitment!” I thought and grabbed the book.
As the cashier was ringing up my books, my daughter came back with a novel about a swimmer. “This is on the house,” the young blondish cashier man said. I smiled. “Thank you for helping me to stay true to my commitment,” I said inwardly.
The Daily Rituals
Later at home, I skimmed through the book. “Wow, there are too many women, whom I do not know or never heard of them. Maybe I could find some people like myself, I thought.
In the introduction, a paragraph caught my attention:
“… or spouses who vigorously opposed their attempts to prioritize self-expression over the traditional role of wife, mother and homemaker. A number of them had children and faced excruciating choices in balancing the needs of their dependents with their own ambitions.
“… even take into account the women artist’s internal obstacle, the various species of anger, guilt, and resentment that come with forcing the world to make space for you and our achievements.”
at the margin of the same passage, I wrote
“My life before 2019,”
Somehow, I realized that I’ve been preparing myself for this book long before May 2023.
The women
I’ve been inspired by the lives and routine schedules of many women in this book. One of them is Julia Ward Howe, poet, playwright, and tireless campaigner for abolitionism, women’s suffrage, and other social reforms, while raising six children, and pursuing her literary career despite her husband’s strong opposition.
“Howe rose at 7:00 a.m. and immediately took a cold bath (adjusted to a tepid bath in her later years). … With breakfast, she drank a cup of tea, which along with a little wine at dinner was her only stimulant, “for her spirits were so buoyant,” Maud [Howe’s daughter who published a memoir of her mother’s late days] notes. “Her temperament so overflowed with the joie de vivre, that we called her the ‘family champagne.'” (page 245). I learned that Howe “was never idle, she was never in a hurry.”
I was also taken with the routine of
Elizabeth Barret Browning and her husband Robert Browning, two English poet couple tuned with each other and their poetry.
“She and Robert both got up at seven and were dressed and breakfasting by nine. … Robert worked in the little sitting room and Elizabeth in the drawing room. The dining room was between them with the doors firmly closed.” (page 163.
Or,
Marie-Therese Rodet Geoffrin, one of the major Salonnieres of the French Enlightenment, who transformed “the Parisian Salon from a leisurely social gathering inro a center of serious intellectual and artistic center.”
Her routine:
“I live here in Paris. I rise every day at five o’clock; I drink my two large glasses of hot water; I take my coffee; I write when I am alone, which is rare; I do my hair in company; I dine every day with the king. I make calls after dinner; I go to the theater, I return to my place at ten o’clock; I drink my hot water, and I go to bed. And in the morning, I begin all over again.” (page 234)
My rituals
On my wall-calendar, in May 2023 I wrote the following:
My routine: I wake up around 5:30 ish. I wash and pray. Then, I go to the kitchen to empty the dishwasher, while I boil water to make tea. Then, I warm up my daughter’s lunch on a very low stove fire. I pour my tea, and go outside for my nine-year-long mediation-walk. I enjoy my Persian tea while breathing in the fresh and crisp of morning air in Seattle. I sip my tea and recite GOD’s name on my prayer beads, that my dad brought me from Iran. Then, after my ritual readings of the day for 30 minutes, I start writing around 7:30 ish for 2 or 4 hours, depending on the day.
I also learned that some artists and creative minds don’t need routine. Their minds are always at the state of creating anew.
For me, there is no creation or creating new paragraphs without the magic act of reading. When I read, I feel I’m pouring words inside my mind to be used in a short while.
I got addicted to reading in my youth. You may have already read my stories of stealing keys to a spare room, at the roof top of our house in Tehran, to access “forbidden” books.
I think a good writer is a dedicated reader. I read slow and careful. I pour words in my brain to use it when I write. If reading transformed my life, writing created a better world for me.
“Writing, which is my form of celebration and prayer, is also my form of inquiry.” Diane Ackerman
More readings:
I Had to Read Those Forbidden Books in Tehran, Part 1
Reading Forbidden Books in Tehran, Part 2
My Story of Finding and Reading Forbidden Books in Tehran, Part 3
The Colour of God, by Ayesha Chaudhry
Muslim Ms. Marvel Is Trying to Fix the Wrong
Please Pledge to Our Peace Journalism.
Goltune is editorially independent. We set our agenda. No one edits our editors. No one steers our opinion. This is important as it enables us to stay true to our values.
Every contribution we receive from readers like you, big or small, goes directly into funding our journalism. Please support Goltune, large or small.
Send your contributions to our PayPal account: [email protected]
Or, Click the link to pledge your support.
Thank you,
Goltune Editorial Team