Want to have some fun and get out of your daily mental routine?
Go read a magazine or newspaper you've never looked at before - even better, one you've never considered reading before.
This week, I picked up a copy of the magazine Transworld Skateboarding. My nephews skateboard, my brother used to skateboard, lots of young people around me do this sport, and I am totally fascinated by the incredible athleticism, grace, and physics involved in skateboarding and the whole culture in which it is embedded.
I wanted to understand it more from an insider's perspective, so I purchased the 13th Annual Awards issue from a news stand at a subway stop.
One way I keep my mind fresh and open to new ideas is by reading a lot of different kinds of printed publications - newspapers and magazines. I read some articles fully, and skim other parts of magazines and newspapers for ideas, people, and trends that are interesting to me.
Some mags I subscribe to, others I buy off the news stand or find on people's front stoops. (I'm not stealing; people in my neighborhood put stuff up for grabs when they are done with it.)
When I travel to different neighborhoods in New York, I often pick up free neighborhood-based newspapers so I know what's going on all over the place, not just in Carroll Gardens.
Sometimes I find stuff I want to do more research on and then blog about.
Sometimes I learn about people - authors, film makers, etc. who I end up emailing and writing about on this blog.
Sometimes I discover cultural events and venues that I go and visit.
In other words: by reading different kinds of publications, my world and my mind always get bigger.
In the past month, I have read these rags and probably some I can't remember. Red means I have a subscription to this publication.
- Ebony
- Oprah
- Fast Company
- NY Times (I read this at least 3 times a week)
- Transworld Skateboarding
- Chopsticks NY
- Paper
- Glamour
- Dwell
- Travel & Leisure
- Psychology Today
- Town & Country
