ARCHIVE FOR Marie Pechet

Like so many of us, I used to feel busy all the time. Married with two young children, I lived an interrupt-driven life and rarely escaped into thick books.

Instead, I skimmed. I read the newspaper headlines and flipped through magazines. I scanned the subject lines in my email to determine which ones to actually read. On Facebook, I skipped the long and complicated posts and favor the short bits about my friends’ lives: their plans for dinner, their children’s antics, the thoughts that occupy their minds…the kinds of passing conversations we might have if we lived next door …