Reading: Pleasure or Addiction

I was affronted the other day when a friend asked if my Reading addiction interfered with my productive life...

I put down my book and answered with a resounding,

 ‘NO, of course not.’

Later I started to watch the people around me on their devices, and the way they used them, which was mostly the way I read. 

Karen Gribbin

Reading for me is my seventh sense, as important to me as breathing. 

I never go anywhere without a book, reading feeds all those waiting hours in my life, waiting for others, or appointments, waiting for coffee, indulging in pleasure. 

The pleasure of Reading.

 

Reading is far from a passive occupation, it's a complex cognitive process, the decoding of symbols in order to construct and derive meaning. It is a language among written languages, an acquisition, a communication, and a sharing of information and ideas whether fiction or non-fiction. 

As Readers we are all different, and we bring with us different experiences and interpretations to our reading.

I must stress here that I value fiction and non-fiction equally. As an Active Reader my goal is to learn something from both genres, bringing together ideas and goals. 

 

Reading is a self motivated responsibility for arousing and maintaining interest in an author’s topic or fantasy.

Reading for me is second nature, covering many genres, opening my subconsciousness to ideas and sciences, cultures and travel, which far outreach my meagre boundaries.  

The very act of Reading develops my values and beliefs; it allows me the openness to understand the people I relate to and with. 

 

The benefits of reading are astounding, informative, and life changing.

This brings me back to my friend’s question:

‘does reading interferer in my productivity.’ 

 

If you count a few burnt dinners marching with Gandalf across the volcanic plains of Middle Earth, or late night isolation with Gregory Smith in the forests of the Mid North Coast, a missed appointment fighting dragons or walking on Mars with Mark Watney, you may say yes. 

But my answer is still no, not at all, because what I gain is invaluable.

 

A book is a plane ride to realms I could only dream about, a way of experiencing cultures, religions, and histories, that on the surface, look completely different, but when you dig deeper you can find understanding to any given ideal, instead of just absorbing  populous reaction.

Kate Grenville & Gary Disher

Have you ever heard a person say ‘I don’t read books,’ and in the next breath criticise a situation they have no knowledge about. 

 

Reading on a wide ranging scale will broaden your horizons. 

Does pleasure and addiction go hand in hand, most definitely? 

 

Pick up a book today, start on a journey you never thought you would take, and you will never look back. 

Just a tip, always have a backup book.