I’ve spent my life reading. When I started out in school, I wasn’t a good speller. I used to get nervous before spelling tests. But, my spelling got better as I learned to read. It’s such an important part of everyday life. No one can remember when they couldn’t read. Being a journalist, I spent my career reading and writing everyday. Reading is the foundation of all knowledge. It helps us write better, explore and understand the world around us. It takes us to places we’d never get a chance to visit and introduces us to people we would never have the opportunity to meet. It expands our minds to new ideas and opinions and makes us crave more. You can find a book on just about every subject you can imagine.
Reading not only teaches you what you don’t know, it allows you to escape your everyday life without leaving home. Reading can also bring great comfort and companionship. Ernest Hemingway said, “There is no friend as loyal as a book.” When we were are in school, we were told what we had to read. Some of those books stay in our memory for the rest of our lives. But, now we can choose whatever we want to read, novels, biographies, history, politics, science, poetry, short stories, and religion to name a few. The world’s great religions were passed down through history as the written word. The Bible, the Koran, the Torah, Buddhadharma define the spiritual life of billions over centuries.
Reading is one of the great bonding experiences between parent and child. I can remember laying in bed with my two sons and reading them stories before they went to sleep. I now get the chance to do it with my granddaughters occasionally. All of them would want to stay close to me and were very quiet as I read. And most of the time they wanted me to keep reading when I stopped. You could believe that they just didn’t want to put the light out and go to sleep. But, I like to think they enjoyed the comfort of my voice reading them a tale of kids like themselves who were doing neat or even magical things they could dream about. What better way to fall asleep.
My particular interest has always been history. The life and times of extraordinary and ordinary people help us undertstand the arc of time. People who shaped events and events that shaped people can always teach how to deal with issues and problems of today. Children who are encouraged to read lead better and more fulfilling lives. They grow up to have a better vocabulary and better communication skills. The knowledge they gain and share can change the world. They will be more engaging and interesting.
If you are not a regular reader, I would encourage you to try reading something that interests you. It doesn’t have to be a book. It could be a newspaper or magazine article. Everyone is interested in something. It will also give you time for yourself. JK Rowling of “Harry Potter” fame said, “I never need to find time to read. When people say to me, ‘Oh, yeah, I love reading. I would love to read, but I just don’t have the time.’ “ I’m thinking, How can they not have time? I read when I’m drying my hair. I read in the bath. I read when I’m sitting in the bathroom. Pretty much anywhere I can do the job one-handed, I read.” There is life in a book if we just read it.
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