Stress Relievers: #5

#5 - Reading a good book

Pros:
A good story can immerse you in another world, causing you to forget about the things you've been stressing over. And the distraction usually lasts longer than a good TV show, movie, play, etc.

Added bonus of enriching your mind by possibly increasing your vocabulary, stimulating your imagination, and teaching you something new.

A good book can be motivating and inspirational for writer types.

Thanks to books on tape/CD, you can read a good book without having to stop everything else you might need to get done.

Cons:
Depending on your stress level, this type of quiet activity might not be enough to distract you, and you might actually ruin the good book with wandering, stress-related thoughts.

You may not always have time to be immersed and there are situations where audio books aren't practical.

You can never be sure a good story will stay good the whole way through. On the other hand, if the story is too good there's always the slight risk of it causing writer envy and nagging self-doubts. "I don't think I could ever write something this well..." and so on. This leads to more stress.

Tomorrow, #4