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I'm starting to not like structuring my blog posts with a summary of the passages that I read for the day. It was a good experiment to try in an attempt to gain a feel of what exactly I wish to write about in these blog posts, and I do not think I will continue it. Of course, I may make allusions to specific passages that stand out to me, but I don't really want to go into detail. I feel that when reading, it's not about analyzing the text as it appears but rather the feelings behind it. We read fiction to expose ourselves to fantastic circumstances that we will likely never in our lives experience. In so doing, we gain valuable insight into our emotions. How would we react when faced with such a crisis? How can we then use this to conduct ourselves in a better manner in day-to-day life, a manner that better aligns with who we are inside? I feel that you can get too caught up in piecing together what the author wants you to feel rather than feeling what it is you want. "No one else can feel it for you," as they say. It is nice though to pick a passage that stands out here and there. In today's reading, Ivan and Alyosha had a "final" meeting of sorts. This scene was interesting because I remember when I first got the book, I opened it up to a random section and just read a little bit of it to get a taste for the work; I ended up reading this scene. My perception of it has changed dramatically with the context I now have. While at the time it felt like a tense argument, this time it felt like a satisfying climax where something is uncapped and can now finally resolve itself. As I reach the end of the book, it gets better and better.

With this blog post, I want to go back to my more stream of consciousness word salad style posts. It's just what I like to write and how I like to write. I want this to function as a sort of journal for me. Not like a diary where I go into really mushy, emotional sort of feelings, but a journal where I just offer thoughts on random things and catalogue things important to me. I'm not sure if there is a distinct difference. It's also just nice to get the feeling of writing more. I read an article recently that said creating a personalized webpage allows you to create your own customized corner of the internet. These posts are so much more me.

This probably applies to many things, not just life. Got my post in for the day! Think I'll head to bed now.