Happy rainy evening my fellow bibliomaniacs!
As the water pitter-patters outside my window, I’m pondering some things. Starting a new job today that had some mind-numbing orientations got me to thinking about how we as a society seem to live to work. We are constantly trying to make ends meet, to get that extra dollar, and we are allowing ourselves to become stressed out over everything that stands in our way.
Reading has always served as a form of escapism, a chance for the reader to transcend their reality and insert themselves into another world for a short period of time. It allows anyone to indulge any fantasy or dream they choose, or to explore places and times that they would otherwise never have access to. Yet more and more, the average working person dedicates less and less time to books, which as an avid reader, saddens me greatly.
As the water pitter-patters outside my window, I’m pondering some things. Starting a new job today that had some mind-numbing orientations got me to thinking about how we as a society seem to live to work. We are constantly trying to make ends meet, to get that extra dollar, and we are allowing ourselves to become stressed out over everything that stands in our way.
Reading has always served as a form of escapism, a chance for the reader to transcend their reality and insert themselves into another world for a short period of time. It allows anyone to indulge any fantasy or dream they choose, or to explore places and times that they would otherwise never have access to. Yet more and more, the average working person dedicates less and less time to books, which as an avid reader, saddens me greatly.
The sight of an abandoned book just makes me want to cry . . .
More time is spent in the work environment than has been seen in decades, and what little time is given over to leisure often revolves around technology. Some of the statistics available show a shocking difference in the amount of time devoted each week to television versus books. In one study done by the National Endowment for the Arts, subjects were seen to spend hours watching TV, while their average amount of time reading only added up to mere minutes! The table below showcases this disheartening results:
2 hours spent on television per day, and less than 10 minutes of reading on average?!?!?
The act of reading is often seen as being super-involved, and therefore requiring more time in order to be useful or pleasurable. So books are often forsaken for reality shows and Netflix, which are seen as needing little to no effort. But enriching ourselves is as simple as picking up a book, and spending some time between its pages.
So the question is, how do we make the time and the effort to include reading in our lives? The answer seems pretty simple, in that we must make the time. So many studies have shown that time to relax and de-stress is essential to our health and happiness as human beings, and while I'm not denying that television can be a source of laughter and relaxation (yes, I've been guilty of binge-watching a show or two), the scope of what can be found in books is limitless. So if you make the effort to put aside just 30 minutes a day, I guarantee that in a short time, you will notice a difference. (Watch for an upcoming post about the health benefits of reading!) Also, starting with a book that is a favorite genre of yours or on one of your favorite topics increases the chance that you will pick it up instead of the remote.
I hope you all make the effort to keep reading, and as for me, I'm off to finish my latest book.
Happy reading my bibliomaniacs!
So the question is, how do we make the time and the effort to include reading in our lives? The answer seems pretty simple, in that we must make the time. So many studies have shown that time to relax and de-stress is essential to our health and happiness as human beings, and while I'm not denying that television can be a source of laughter and relaxation (yes, I've been guilty of binge-watching a show or two), the scope of what can be found in books is limitless. So if you make the effort to put aside just 30 minutes a day, I guarantee that in a short time, you will notice a difference. (Watch for an upcoming post about the health benefits of reading!) Also, starting with a book that is a favorite genre of yours or on one of your favorite topics increases the chance that you will pick it up instead of the remote.
I hope you all make the effort to keep reading, and as for me, I'm off to finish my latest book.
Happy reading my bibliomaniacs!