Books, nature, and music

I am fortunate. The top three things that I love can be enjoyed at the same time. Tell me about efficiency. They involve books, nature, and music. This is what I would do if I had more time.

Read

Give me more time, I will spend it reading. It’s my preferred escape. Oh, dear, I’m badly in need of more healthy distractions! With all that has been happening in the world lately, I have been browsing social media too much in search of news. I realize I’ve been neglecting my reading time. I will rectify it starting this weekend.

Enjoy nature

Just yesterday the spring equinox ended the winter. It looks like magic, nature instantly begins waking up from hibernation. Even today I started hearing the birds singing in the trees outside my bedroom window at sunrise. I was missing them so much! I’m looking forward to taking my bike and riding the trails around the lake. Or just bringing my book to a bench in the park and reading undisturbed.

Listen to music

Whenever I’m listening to music with lyrics, I stop to pay attention. This can be distracting when I’m trying to concentrate. So, when I’m reading I just put some instrumental music. Keyboard music has a relaxing effect on me. My favorites include the preludes and fugues of The Well-Tempered Clavier. I also love the Goldberg Variations, both by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The famous Aria from the ‘Goldberg Variations’. The legend surrounding the ‘Goldberg Variations’, performed here by Jean Rondeau for All of Bach, is such a nice one. Count Hermann Karl von Keyserlinck was having trouble sleeping and asked Bach for some pleasant music to pass the time, to be played by Keyserlinck’s harpsichord prodigy Johann Gottlieb Goldberg.

Jean Rondeau, harpsichordist
Harpsichord: Jonte Knif & Arno Pelto, 2004
Netherlands Bach Society

What would you do if you had more time? Does it involve books, nature and music as well? Leave that in the comments!