Reading, for me, is entertainment and an escape from the real world. But it can also inform and stretch the boundaries of the life I live.
OK I love that she's volunteering with an organization ("Neighbors Together") that does home repairs/renovations for the elderly and disabled. I used to do that through my work with an organization called "Hearts and Hammers", although we unskilled workers were limited to scraping, sanding, painting, and planting the flowerbeds. It was really a lot of fun, and something that I felt had an immediate and lasting impact.
I did get a terrible case of poison ivy all over my face from it one year, though.