In moderation, these new sources of entertainment can enhance and diversify the way we engage with the world. In excess, as most of us know, they can do the opposite. But even when I told myself reading was important, I had trouble committing to it. Reading took effort, didn't immediately inform or entertain me the way other media did, and ultimately, felt like a waste of time in a world where every second was rationed.
But recently (and ironically), a combination of more free time in the summer and a video I found on Youtube helped me think of reading in a new way. The crux was this: the "precious time" I thought I would waste by reading was in fact already being used up by things that had little value to me. Activities like mindlessly scrolling through feeds, though I only did them for seconds at a time, added up to countless minutes, half-hours, even hours per day. And the worst part was that despite this investment, it would never build into anything worthwhile.
Think about it this way: if you worked out for just 20 min a way, you would see amazing benefits to your health in just a few months. The commitment adds up. But digital entertainment? In the past year, I realized that I'd probably spent hundreds of hours on it, and yet had no meaningful wisdom, insight, or knowledge to show for it. If anything, the only rewards from these hours of investment were lethargy, cynicism, and empty dissatisfaction.
The same comparison applies to books. When I realized that a simple ten minutes of reading a day would not be eating into my free time, but instead, replacing that kind of numbing consumption, I felt a lot freer to sit down for an extended period of time and just read. And as the summer comes to a close, I have one key takeaway--the making of a reading habit is neither easy nor instantaneous, but its positive reward is abounding.
Reading is often not the most immediately stimulating activity available to us. Nine times out of ten, I can cure boredom much more efficiently by scrolling through a feed or watching a video. But unlike either of these activities, reading produces benefits that are long-term, and with the right material, add up to a lifetime of fulfillment, learning, and wonder for the world around us. From an increase in knowledge and appreciation for others' experiences, to even tangible improvements to mental health, the positive results of reading are endless.
So in short: more than ever, the act of reading is incredibly valuable! If anyone has been trying to get into it again, I hope watching that video gave you a little boost of inspiration the way it did for me.
And lastly, since it'd be a shame to not give a recommendation as that was the original purpose of the tag that started this: The Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck. If you're like me, it's one of those books you've always known about but never thought to actually pick up and read, right? Well if you're looking for a sign, here it is: THIS BOOK IS PROBABLY ONE OF THE BEST (TOP 3?? POSSIBLY THE BEST??) BOOKS I'VE READ IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS (YES, THAT'S INCLUDING THE FOUR YEARS I WAS LITERALLY AN ENGLISH MAJOR IN COLLEGE); IT IS BEAUTIFUL, WISE, UNASSUMING, YET STRIKINGLY HUMAN ALL AT ONCE AND IT'S FAMOUS ENOUGH WHERE LITERALLY ANY LIBRARY NEAR YOU WOULD HAVE IT SO YOU CAN EVEN GET IT FOR FREE SO PLEASE PLEASE CONSIDER GIVING IT A TRY
And let me know how it is if you do.
