Bookstores as My Mindfulness Practice

“Mindfulness practice means that we commit fully in each moment to be present; inviting ourselves to interface with this moment in full awareness, with the intention to embody as best we can an orientation of calmness, mindfulness, and equanimity right here and right now.”

― Jon Kabat-Zinn, Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

For me, mindfulness is about taking the opportunity to fully attend to what’s happening in the moment — what I’m doing, my surroundings, and my feelings. When in this state, I am able to let go of the obsessive thoughts that at times cause me to fret about things I have little or no control. 

Bookstores have long been places that allow me to effortlessly capture this state of mindful immersion. I was reminded of this on a recent visit to Dallas, where I had the pleasure of visiting Half Priced Books, a heavenly spot for bibliophiles that just hit its 50th-anniversary milestone. 

Walk through the doors of the flagship location on E. Northwest Highway, a behemoth 54,000- square-foot store with more than half a million new and used books and other media, and you are immediately greeted by a vast ocean of reading pleasure. With more than 120 stores nationwide, plus a website with customers and sellers across the world, Half-Price is regarded as the largest family-owned retailer of new and used books in America. 

While the flagship store essentially amounts to an industrial warehouse, I must say that it has a great aesthetic feel and vibe to it. There is also a delightful coffee shop adjacent to the building. The store is welcoming to all readers with seemingly something for everyone amid varying genres of interest. 

The genesis of Half-Priced Books goes back to 1972 when corporate dropout Ken Gjemre and fellow bibliophile Pat Anderson launched a used-book shop in an old Dallas area laundromat. They ran ads in a local periodical, stating “We Buy Books,” and soon were deluged with scores of books and an avalanche of customers. 

I found myself enamored by the history of this store while wandering the aisles taking in the book selections. It is evident that the store is very mission-oriented and committed to the community, having supported literacy and environmental groups for over 45 years. The store even has a program where they recycle and donate more than a million books a year to local nonprofits and organizations worldwide. 

More than anything, my love for bookstores like Half-Priced Books is about practicing being in the present moment. For whenever I step into a book-filled locale, I find myself no longer distracted by ruminations of the past or worries about the future. Rather I am centered on the here and now. 

When engaged in this practice of being completely absorbed by the books surrounding me, scanning aisles and aisles of my favorite genres for my next read, nothing else seems to matter at the moment. With a smile on my face and fellow book lovers all around me, time just seems to stop.

That’s what bookstores are for me. How about you?