The one change that worked: I found an escape from online life by swapping my home office for the library
I can find essential and unusual facts for my arts journalism in the dusty old tomes – information not readily available on Google. And, as I did as a child, I lose myself in a world of books ...
Last September, I started walking to the library every day. As a University College London alumnus, I get free membership of both the Senate House library and the university’s main library. It is 90 minutes door to door, at a thinking pace, the perfect stretch of time during which to fuss over whatever is bothering me (a sentence, a professional hurdle, a private conversation) then gradually forget all about it and just let my mind wander too. That’s what the walk does. It unknots me.
That the destination is a library only compounds that. The beep when I swipe in with my card is the loudest thing I’ll hear all day. The necessary quiet of the space gentles my every gesture. I open doors more quietly. I pull chairs out from behind tables more carefully. I set up my station and sit down more promptly. And then I breathe.
All around me are these old tomes with clothbound covers – exactly the kind of books I used to look for as a child in my library at primary school. At that age, already, I often felt the need to escape the busyness of the world outside and I’d latch on to the oldest hardbacks as the best place to go for a good story.
These days, it is online we are all trying – if momentarily – to escape. Well, this really is the place to do that. It is not that I need to consult an art history book for every piece of journalism I write, but doing so inevitably yields different details from only Googling an artist: a quote, say, from a 1970s catalogue no one has thought to digitise, or the title of a piece an artist mentioned seeing when they were a student in the 1980s.
Also, just looking up from my laptop for the kind of regular break physios or optometrists sternly recommend now brings excitement, not dread. Instead of seeing the many chores (laundry, admin, clutter) that crowd my tiny workspace at home, my eyes land on a sea of titles. I’ve started photographing stacks of books. It is like concrete poetry.
I got to Senate House early the other morning and picked an empty room at random, only to realise at 10am that I was in the German literature section, surrounded by titles that composed something unexpectedly lyrical when put together (Light Beneath the Horizon; So I Sat Then Between All the Seats; Twilight). In the art history section, I’ve felt a certain thrill at reconnecting with the kind of Big Book you have to consult repeatedly as a student (Erwin Panofsky’s Early Netherlandish Painting) but that you then somehow never lose, like furniture in your mind. This week I opened a book on Cy Twombly and glitter drifted out from the creases. You see what books do? Someone was inspired …
If I’m cold or jittery, I’ll go downstairs and kind of melt into the noise of the coffee shop. If I’m stressed, I’ll walk to the Frank Auerbach section. And when I’m done, if there’s time, I walk home. No day at the office or WFH has ever felt as good.
-
I want to leave my home to my children from my first marriage — and not to my second husband. Is that wrong?
“My husband has two children, who also have a mother and grandparents who have an inheritance to leave them.”MarketWatch - 14h -
I was displaced from my home in Gaza — now Trump wants me gone for good
Even if Trump doesn’t order American soldiers to occupy and expel us, as he first said he would, he has effectively given Israel approval to do so.The Hill - 20h -
I Found Pornography on My Husband’s Computer. I’m Furious!
A wife feels disgusted and betrayed after discovering a lurid image of another woman on her husband’s computer screen, and worries that he may have permanently damaged their relationship.The New York Times - 4d -
‘She’s still waiting by the phone’: My grandmother gave her life savings to a man she met online. What now?
“Up until the moment she was scammed, we considered her the wealthy one in our family.”MarketWatch - 3h -
I love my kids but I regret having them. How can I accept my life as a parent? | Leading questions
It may help to view parenthood as a rapidly changing condition, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith says. It’s also important not to struggle with these feelings alone. Read more Leading ...The Guardian - 3d -
I see my wife once a year. Can I question her on her love life? | Ask Philippa
Faithlessness doesn’t only have to take the form of infidelity. It can be the slow erosion of trust and care. The question My wife and I live in different countries and see each other once a ...The Guardian - 1d -
One of my 3 children passed away — and left behind a child. I also have a second grandkid. How do I divide my estate?
“Twenty-five percent each does not seem fair given that one child and grandchild could inherit half of my estate.”MarketWatch - 2h -
‘I think we brought the wrong one home’: one mother’s search to find her lost son
Joan always suspected she had been handed someone else’s baby by the hospital when she gave birth more than 70 years ago. Then an Ancestry DNA test seemed to prove her right. Now in her 90s, she is ...The Guardian - 2d -
‘I do feel we can be too prudish’: one woman’s experience as a life model
Life drawing hit the headlines when a north London class, which had been running for more than 30 years, was told to cover up its naked models or find a new location. Ellie Heney, 32, from ...The Guardian - 2d
More from The Guardian
-
Germany elections live: Olaf Scholz says result is ‘bitter’ after Conservatives win and Musk congratulates far-right for surge
Outgoing chancellor says he will remain in office until successor in place after Conservative opposition wins most votes in Germany election. German election 2025: results in full Guten ...The Guardian - 37m -
Netanyahu ‘preparing atmosphere’ to return to war with Gaza, says Hamas official – Middle East crisis live
Hamas official Basem Naim says Benjamin Netanyahu ‘intentionally sabotaging’ peace deal . Here are some more of Hamas official Basem Naim’s comments, as summarised by Al Jazeera :. We have ...The Guardian - 47m -
World leaders reiterate support on third anniversary of war as Zelenskyy hails ‘absolute heroism of Ukrainians’ – live
Ukraine president hails ‘three years of resistance’ as world leaders commemorate anniversary in Kyiv. The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas earlier said that she would be travelling to the US tomorrow ...The Guardian - 30m -
Pope Francis battling mild kidney failure but eating and resting well, say doctors
Pontiff, 88, was awake and in good humour, say Vatican sources, after being admitted to hospital with pneumonia. Pope Francis, who is battling pneumonia and “mild” kidney failure, had a good night, ...The Guardian - 2h -
More than 150,000 Canadians sign petition to revoke Musk’s citizenship
Parliamentary petition launched due to billionaire’s link to Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to conquer Canada. More than 150,000 people from Canada have signed a parliamentary petition ...The Guardian - 6h
More in World
-
UK defence firm Chemring ‘targeted’ by private equity firm; Apple cheers Trump with $500bn US investment plan– business live
One of the world’s largest private equity investors has made an approach to buy Chemring, the FTSE 250 defence group, Sky News reports. German election live: Merz says priority is to make Europe ...The Guardian - 23m -
World leaders reiterate support on third anniversary of war as Zelenskyy hails ‘absolute heroism of Ukrainians’ – live
Ukraine president hails ‘three years of resistance’ as world leaders commemorate anniversary in Kyiv. The EU’s top diplomat Kaja Kallas earlier said that she would be travelling to the US tomorrow ...The Guardian - 30m -
US politics live: confusion at agencies over whether to comply with Elon Musk email demanding workers justify jobs
Government agencies give conflicting orders after Musk demands employees list accomplishments from past week by Monday deadline. A federal judge on Monday is set to consider a request by the ...The Guardian - 36m -
The big idea: what do we really mean by free speech?
Social media bosses are suddenly all for it, but can we take their enthusiasm at face value?. Free speech is in permacrisis – or so some would have you believe. Complaints that freedom of speech is ...The Guardian - 37m -
Germany elections live: Olaf Scholz says result is ‘bitter’ after Conservatives win and Musk congratulates far-right for surge
Outgoing chancellor says he will remain in office until successor in place after Conservative opposition wins most votes in Germany election. German election 2025: results in full Guten ...The Guardian - 37m