Why reading a book may be the best thing for you
I can’t tell when it was that I began reading, but I do remember that it was when I was quite young.
And I’ve written so many,many times about why we need to return to reading, here, here and here and possibly a lot more across that blog too.
But the book I read last night truly, deeply reminded me of what being a reader meant, before the emergence of social media. (Follow the author here on Twitter, Anne Bogel)
It also showed me that books don’t change; we do. Our approach to a book and what it can do for us, upon a re-read is infinite and limitless.
Reading is the one thing that kept me anchored as a child and a teen. I had very few friends to speak of and this never bothered me, because I always had my books.
And how a book connects people: it’s amazing! I quickly posted a picture of the book I was reading yesterday to my Whatsapp stories/status and instantly had 3 close friends text me to say that they loved the book too!
That’s what reading does: it brings readers together.
That reminder came to me in stark clarity last night when I read a sly tweet which referenced me.
It rattled me so much that I went ahead and deleted a post of mine on Facebook, even though the sole intention of that post was to encourage more people to think about a particular habit with the right mindset.
That’s the thing about social media; you learn about yourself in ways that you never would have, before the internet came along.
I am pretty sure that people would speak about me behind my back even as a child and a young adult; but the difference was I never knew about it and could care even less.
Why?
A book was always around. A book always offered me an escape into a world free of judgement, scorn or disdain. It was my private Paradise and I was always welcome there.
If anything, this has reminded me yet again that I must do two things:
A) Stick to reading and writing the way I have in the last two weeks
B) Reduce my presence on social media even further
*Can my business succeed without an overly active social media presence? I am not very sure, but Cal Newport assures me that it can. It’s time to put it to the test.
- Follow me on Goodreads here if you want to know what I am reading right now.
