Shelfs Don’t Lie, Part II: A Stroll Through Other People’s Gardens

 

I recently realized I know very little. I used to think I knew enough, but as someone wise once said (Socrates, allegedly, though the “allegedly” is doing heavy lifting😎), the more you know, the more you know you don’t know.

(Maison) ALLE @maison.alle

It happened when the universe moved me into a circle of people who read completely different books from mine. One friend reads sports magazines: biking, running, “Muscles at 40,” how to be an effective runner, sportswear, sports advertising. Boy oh boy, there are tons of these. I had no idea.

Then I started looking around. In one circle I found someone reading fiction and economics. Someone else was on comics and sci-fi. Another was reading The Secret while a neighbor read the Kybalion. And somewhere there is a person reading children’s books on purpose. It’s like switching personalities mid-chapter, and honestly, I love it.

Everyone is a different garden

I think of reading as a walk, a hike, a stroll through the gardens of other people’s minds. Some gardens are manicured and beautiful. Some are wild, overgrown, and a little thorny. A few are not beautiful at all, but you leave with mud on your boots and a story to tell.

“How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book.”
Henry David Thoreau, Walden

That’s why I’m so grateful for everyone who reads and everyone who writes, in print, in audio, or in whatever format gets the words out. A friend told me (he be too modest to be named here) something I haven’t stopped thinking about: when you read a writer’s genre, you learn to step into their shoes. You see the world from their window, and empathy starts to feel natural.

If everyone around you is as unique as you are, then you owe them grace. Reading is where you practise it.

The day I couldn’t put a book down

On the 28th of October, I read an entire book in one sitting. It was about mountains, hiking, running, and exercise, and I did not move until about 8 p.m. No snacks, no scrolling, no guilt. I just walked the whole trail in one go.

“A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one.”
George R.R. Martin, A Dance with Dragons

@jareddc

 

Why reading is the slow-down we need

Jo Heubeck & Domi Pfenninger.

Everything around us rewards speed. Reading is one of the few things that quietly insists you slow down. And the science has some things to say about it:

THE SCIENCE BIT: Readers live longer
A Yale study of adults over 50 (Bavishi et al., 2016) found that book readers lived about 2 years longer than non-readers.

THE SCIENCE BIT: Fiction builds empathy
Kidd and Castano (2013) suggested that reading literary fiction improves our ability to understand other people’s minds. Later replications had mixed results, so treat this as an intriguing idea, not settled fact.

THE SCIENCE BIT: Six minutes to calm
A University of Sussex study (2009) reported that reading can reduce stress within minutes. It wasn’t peer-reviewed and a chocolate brand commissioned it, so enjoy it with a grain of salt (and maybe a square of chocolate).

Your turn

So here is my invitation, fellow Bold Trackers. Next time you’re between adventures, pack a book. Pick one outside your usual genre: the sports magazine, the comic, the economics text, even the children’s book.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.”
Dr. Seuss, I Can Read with My Eyes Shut!

I’m staying curious, staying hungry, and cheerfully staying ignorant, because that’s where the learning is. One day I hope to review, comment, write, and publish more of what I read.

Until then, the shelves don’t lie. What’s on yours?