Sandra Heska King

daring to open doors

  • Home
  • About
  • DISCLOSURES
    • Amazon Affiliate
    • Book Reviews
  • Published
  • Contact
  • Blog
    • Commit Poetry
    • Dared

A Reason to Read–in One Word

May 22, 2010 By Sandra Heska King

I asked the other day about summing up your message in one word as a writer.

So that got me thinking about why we pick up a book to read. What do we look for? What do we want in the end? What message do we want to come away with?

Is it the same with each book?

What makes us feel like we spent our time well?

Can we put it in one word?

Escape? Knowledge? Information? Hope? Refreshment? Encouragement?

I choose inspiration.

In fiction and nonfiction.

I want to feel inspired to reach higher and deeper.

Inspired to grow.

Inspired to learn more.

  • About something.
  • About people.
  • About a person.
  • About a place.
  • About a time in history.
  • About God.

Inspired to read another book.

Inspired to go from words to the Word.

Inspired to write words of my own.

What’s your one word as a reader?
Copyright © 2010 by Sandra Heska King

Share this:

  • Email
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest

Filed Under: writing

Comments

  1. Susan J. Reinhardt says

    May 22, 2010 at 4:29 pm

    Hi Sandra –

    I like your word, "Inspiration," but I think I'd choose, "Revelation."

    Revelation transforms the dry, dead letter of the law into something vital and alive. A well-written story goes beyond technical perfection.

    Blessings,
    Susan 🙂

  2. Sandra Heska King says

    May 22, 2010 at 4:49 pm

    Oh, Susan! I love that. Wish I'd thought of it first. 😉

  3. Karen Lange says

    May 22, 2010 at 8:55 pm

    I love your choice of inspiration. It applies in so many ways! Since that's already taken, 🙂 I think I would choose refreshed. I am refreshed creatively by reading all sorts of books; I am also refreshed spiritually by reading the Bible and other good books. I am refreshed physically and mentally with a reprieve from a good story.

  4. Jan Cline says

    May 22, 2010 at 10:18 pm

    I would have to say "quench" – my thirst for stories and knowledge that is. But I do love "inspiration" and "revelation" too!

  5. Sandra Heska King says

    May 22, 2010 at 11:14 pm

    Creatively "refreshed" and thirst "quenched." Love it!

  6. Cassandra Frear says

    May 23, 2010 at 2:35 pm

    Resonance.

    "A real book is not one that we read, but one that reads us."

    — W.H. Auden

  7. lynnmosher says

    May 23, 2010 at 5:42 pm

    Ooo…all great answers! I thought I would say inspiration until I read all the others! Now, I don't know! They're all good! And great post, Sandy!

  8. Lynda Young says

    May 24, 2010 at 2:37 am

    I'd really like to say inspiration as well, but in an effort to be different I'll go with Learning.
    I like to Learn other people's point of view, I like to learn other trains of thought, I like to learn different writing styles.

  9. Sandra Heska King says

    May 24, 2010 at 10:41 am

    @Cassandra: That's a great word! Love the quote!

    @Lynn: I know, right? And thanks.

    @Lynda: Good thoughts! I like learning, too.

  10. Sandra Heska King says

    May 24, 2010 at 10:43 am

    A Twitter friend wrote:

    "I pick up a book because it calls me from the shelf, maybe a word in the title meets me where I'm at, or where I've been."

    Later she wrote:

    It's "like trailing your hands in the water & finding a beautiful water lily."

    We're still trying to settle on one word.

  11. Sandra Heska King says

    May 24, 2010 at 10:46 am

    And from Facebook friends comes another vote for "inspiration" and one for "escape."

    Now if a writer could appeal to all these reasons in a book . . .

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Meet Sandra

I’m Sandra, a camera-toting, recovering doer who’s learning to be. still. Read more…

Get updates from the stillness by email

Your personal information is safe and will never be shared.

Archives

Categories

Instagram Inspiration

sandraheskaking

Happy first day of fall from my backyard to yours. Happy first day of fall from my backyard to yours.
Just another backyard photo… Just another backyard photo…
From my backyard tonight. From my backyard tonight.
Just another sunset. Just another sunset.
“I would like people to remember of me, how inex “I would like people to remember of me, how inexhaustible was her mindfulness.” ~ Mary Oliver in “ A Little Ado About This and That.”
Current situation. Current situation.
“This spark of life that wavest wings of gold” “This spark of life that wavest wings of gold” ~ Thomas Wentworth Higginson in “Ode to a Butterfly”
🦋
We pulled all the milkweed because it just could not support all the caterpillars. They were eating it bare and most of them died because they ran out of food. This one butterfly found this one lone volunteer.
"I would feel more optimistic about a bright futur "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority." ~ E.B. White (as quoted on today's page in my Franklin Planner)
"May you experience each day as a sacred gift wove "May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder." ~ John O'Donohue in "For Presence" from To Bless the Space Between Us
🌴
Tri-colored heron stalking breakfast in my backyard.
“. . neighbor’s tree hangs heavy with mangoes “. .  neighbor’s tree hangs heavy with mangoes. They are moving in a week. They say a family from Belarus bought the house. I hope they don’t care much for mangoes.”
**
“Beautiful Sweet Things” at https://sandraheskaking.substack.com/
"People do not grow old. When they cease to grow t "People do not grow old. When they cease to grow they become old.” ~ Emerson

It's been a while since I've written anything on my blog. Like 3 years. But I just wrote my first post on Substack. Come see?

https://sandraheskaking.substack.com/p/ten-years-ten-things
Spent a couple hours this morning with friends fro Spent a couple hours this morning with friends from @spanishriverchurch picking up beach trash. Little bits of colored and clear plastic, big bits of plastic, bottle caps, broken glass, strings, ropes, straws, socks, fast food containers, paper, cigarette holders and filters—and a couple unmentionables. Took extra care around the turtle nests. Last count was about 70 pounds, but there were also some bigger things like an abandoned chair and a plastic tent. And a big piece of burlap or something with a fishing lure and giant hook attached. D found a Macy’s gift card that he almost tossed in his bucket. But we brought it home to check the balance—$24.60! We should be able to turn that into something useful for someone. 😊
H Already dead, I am living my afterlife here in t H
Already dead, I am
living my afterlife
here
in the form of a human.
~ Xueyan from Time Peels All to Original White

Thanks to @tspoetry for introducing me to this beautiful collection via an Every Day Poems selection.
The cats attacked the window all night. The dog wo The cats attacked the window all night. The dog woofed all night. This morning we discovered the would-be burglar imprisoned between the screen and the glass on our bedroom slider. 

When I stepped out to release it (no bail), I was surprised by this brief bit of backyard beauty.
For most of us, knowledge of our world comes large For most of us, knowledge of our world comes largely through sight, yet we look about with such unseeing eyes that we are partially blind. One way to open your eyes to unnoticed beauty is to ask yourself, "What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?" ~ Rachel Carson in The Sense of Wonder
#prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michigan #prayformsu #spartanstrong #spartannurse #michiganstateuniversity
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faith Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. ~ Psalm 136:1
A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana A tale of two iguanas... I did not see the iguana in the background until I downloaded the photos. That, I believe, is the one that got caught in one of the openings in the neighbor's chain link fence. We tried in several (safe) ways to dislodge it without luck and could think of no other option but to leave it. Somehow it apparently dislodged itself. We also believe this is the pair that was getting into another neighbor's garden. We haven't seen either one since the last cold snap, so we are wondering if they survived. 
🌱
Thinking some may have tumbled from their perches last night. Pretty sure it will be raining iguanas tonight since we are under a frost advisory. It's cold. And windy.
Just sing... sing a song... Singing our way into Just sing... sing a song... 

Singing our way into the weekend.
"We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramse "We don't just see. We learn to see." ~ Russ Ramsey in Rembrandt is in the Wind
Load More... Follow on Instagram

Get the Mug

Embrace the life you have t s poetry mug

Privacy Policy

Full privacy policy is available HERE.

I Read Light

TSP-Red button

bibledude-net



Sponsor a Child

Join the Compassion Blogger Network

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2023 Sandra Heska King · Site by The Willingham Enterprise, LLC on the Genesis Framework by StudioPress · Log in