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Over the past week, I seem to have attracted a number of articles on the topic of reading. That is a good thing as reading is a habit I quite enjoy. Perhaps this happened because reading can often make it onto a list of resolutions at this time of the year. Regardless, there were two in particular that grabbed my attention. One from my alma mater and one from the National Geographic Society.
The takeaways are these: read often, read as you read, allow yourself to be transported, embrace variety and never feel that once a book is done, it is done.
Books and stories are the gateway to wider perspectives and the joy of discovery. They can inform, agitate, comfort and cause one to pause, sometimes all in the same chapter. They leave us a little different than when they found us, and there is research that suggests reading may be better for us than we realize.
That books can be waypoints in an ongoing journey is an idea I had not before considered. When we reread a book, we can travel back to how we once felt or revisit a view we once held, and then benchmark how we have grown and changed. For example, recognizing that a passage strikes you differently than it did previously indicates an evolution in perspective.
I support the notion that these kinds of moments, and indeed reading in general, allow for a type of human connection to occur, and can provide an opportunity for stress to be reduced. Human connection and stress reduction are linked to well being and longevity making the act of reading something from which we benefit beyond the joy brought by a great narrative.
A reluctant reader may not be drawn to reading simply because they are told it is good for them, much like a child who is hesitant to eat their vegetables may not be convinced by the same reasoning. However, they might be inspired to read when they observe others being transported to a place of wonder and contemplation, engaging with stories at their own pace and on their own terms, all while genuinely enjoying the experience.
Christopher White, Head of School