When I was growing up there were two things I thought about (well, more than 2, but you get the point of this)- cap guns and movies. I had read a few books and series that I enjoyed, keep in mind this was before I discovered the beautiful world of Lord of the Rings. I remember Ottie the Otter, not to mention countless Louis L’Amour books that I read. The interesting thing? I didn’t enjoy reading- it just wasn’t fun. Oh, I’d read a few books that I couldn’t put down, like the first time I’d read the Chronicles of Narnia, but the fact is I didn’t like reading. Reading was that thing you did for school when you studied. I think we can all appreciate what Natalie Portman was saying when she said that she hated studying, so do we all, but we all love to learn. And I’m not just saying this because I had a crush on her like all 9 year olds who saw her in The Phantom Menace. Fortunately for her she can actually act as well, sorry Lucas, you make amazing movies, but you can’t write love scenes or dialogue- it’s okay neither can I.
The fact of the matter is, I love reading now. I credit this to Tolkien. He had such an amazing way of painting a scene and he wrote a tale that, to paraphrase Shakespeare, we are all players in. I mean to say, we can all relate to different characters in his books at different points in our lives. I would even hazard to say that we could all see and draw the parallels with different characters and our own psychology and what they and we are going through. Better studied minds than I will have to do that analysis, and there’s no time for that here. Tolkien made me appreciate reading from a standpoint of learning, but not from studying.
Now, I do like studying in its place and in its own right. It serves a requisite purpose for life insofar as careers and work are concerned, not to mention our need to decipher the wonders of nature, the universe, and God. Studying can be tedious and it can make reading monotonous and boring. Is it just me, or did that seem to take too long to get to my point?
Anyone who knows me or who has had a discussion with me will know how much I like Gilbert Keith Chesterton, I reference him a lot as he had a poignant way of stating the obvious fact about any given situation or society. “Without education, we are in the terribly deadly position of taking educated people seriously.” I’m sure he said that with a pipe in his mouth and a pint in his hand, but if you’re not reasoning for yourself, you’re letting someone else live your life.
So what should we do? Read. It’s that simple. Reading is the best way to cultivate the brain and every facet of intellectual stimulation. Reading can help reveal feelings, psychological pain or trauma, and help one to heal. Of course, this is all anecdotal. I could look up studies on the health benefits of reading, but I don’t do too much research outside of work. Keeping up on my ICU nursing skills wears me out, and those research studies are written by research doctors who don’t know how to write or speak at a general populace level- hence the reason they’re in research.
Reading, as I’ve said before, stimulates the imagination, which we could all use right now. It provides that emotional escape that we so desperately need, and from a health perspective that would be beneficial as it provides stress relief. Some people need a cigarette, I need to read some pages from a good tome.
I don’t know that I’ll make this a thing, but a little health advice. When you find yourself reading for hours (or days like me- not even sorry), get up and walk around. Take your furry friend for a walk and get that blood moving through your legs and heart. Just like your parents telling you to get off the floor or the couch, put the video game controller down or shut down the computer and go get some exercise, I’m telling you to get some exercise. Do some calf raises, take some deep breaths, do something to get your blood moving a little faster and keep that brain fresh for more pages. Whether you’re an elitist like me who has to read paper pages, or you’ve got your Kindle or Nook in your back pocket, keep it up!!!