How is it going with your New Years’ Resolution to read more? Yeah, I can imagine. I admit that it has been a while since I held a paper book in my hands, let alone enjoyed reading. Sometimes studying in university steals pleasure from the process and totally ruins your reading habits. And even though you are well aware of all the benefits of reading, you feel inexplicable guilt for not starting a recently bought book.
Usually, we associate reading with hard cognitive work. Reading books teaches important lessons, improves communication skills and helps us to avoid young-onset dementia. Literature should be useful, right?Â
We believe that books, or any other text at this point, were created exclusively for educational purposes. On that note, we tend to pick dry and fact-based non-fictional literature that we do not actually enjoy, thanks to self-improvement culture (do not get me wrong, genuine curiosity is a good thing but an obsessive self-torment is not).Â
However, reading does not have to be a painful process. You can read for completely different purposes at your own pace. Your relationship with reading is not static. On the contrary, it is constantly evolving (as you do too). Some days you might prefer a nonfiction audiobook over your favorite romance novel to avoid emotional engagement, and during others you might feel overwhelmed by your studies and choose a self-help book over academic articles. Also, you will inevitably have days when you will not be able to look towards your bookshelf.Â
Do not be so harsh on yourself. However, I encourage you to think and explore what feels good and what works for you, and only you.Â