Ah, the joys of literature! For the longest time, I thought that books were just a convenient source of entertainment, a way to lessen stress, a method to improve vocabulary and intelligence. Most importantly, for me, it was a way to get lost in someone else's problems, someone else's life.
I was doing a little reading a little while ago, and it led me to ponder this: Do I even have a life?
Well, yes I do, I'd like to think. I mean, I just finished Khaled Housseini's The Kite Runner! If that's not living, I don't know what is.
This led to another question: What if, instead of living vicariously through my nonexistent kid, I'm living vicariously through books?!
Which I countered with: Well, so what?
Which I rebutted with: Well, don't you have your own problems?
And then I realized it. My rather simple life probably gains its simplicity from the fact that I read so much, I know how to avoid drama, and why would I need it if I have enough drama to feed millions right at my fingertips?
Which leads me to my point. Everyone should read more. You guys, the ones reading this blog entry right now, good job. Because literacy makes you a smarter, more well rounded person, I think. It makes you more aware of what's out there, and how to counter it. Literacy is one thing, but our public education system doesn't do much to instill in children the absolute joy of reading. The pleasure and life lessons that can be derived from it. And I think that's sad.
Everyone needs an escape. Books are mine. Sports might be someone elses. Music might be yours. I guess what this roundabout post is trying to say is, think of all of the negative things affecting our society today and think about how much of that could have been avoided if our youth all had safe ways to express themselves, and to escape from reality?
And think about how much smarter our society would be if reading was stressed much more in early education, if kids were introduced to the joy of Dr. Seuss just as a matter of principle, and not only if they have parents that have time to help them out with it at home.
I think that the merits of early education are severely undervalued, when they should be used to their full extent.
Just a few roundabout, progressive rantings that I hope maked sense and had a purpose and several points.
I do too...I get way too entwined with the character's and their lives...I love reading...it gives me an escape from reality and I don't know what I'd do without it...it makes me sad when people don't like to read...but I'm glad I do
Hehe. I, too, am a great reader of books. My form of escapism. It used to be that in the summer, I would lock myself in my room and read about three or four books a day. That was probably a little extreme. But I had no other way to live. I can't experience everything that I want to in this life, so why not read about it? People don't understand, they say they can just watch TV instead, but honestly, I much prefer getting the full experience out of a book, rather than a tiny window of a half-hour increment...
I agree about the full experience. Books can be so enriching, especially compared to television. I wish more people got to experience that enrichment to the fullest....
I've always believed that yer TV box kills more brain cells than alcohol.
Sustainably yers, http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/green-underbelly
I would have to agree. It kills the imagination. Maybe with books you're not creating your own story, but at least you have to picture it. TV does all the work for you, though. There's absolutely no mental power required... *sigh*
yeah absolutely...I could live without my tv...or computer...but not without my books...I love being able to find stories relating to characters...you can actually be exposed to something positive as opposed to what the news and other outlets offer
i agree. it's sad that the average amount of time that an american citizen watches tv is over 6 hours. it's a little addicting. and when you arise from your tv-induced stupor, you've accomplished nothing, whereas when you arise from a book-induced stupor, you've learned several new words, a new point of view, and a conversation topic. itv can't even compare most times, unless it's the discovery channel!
that's exactly how I feel.
hmm...I don't really watch the discovery channel...I'm a CNN girl myself
but i felt that that would defeat the purpose of my post if i went on to list the history channel and pbs, etc. there is some good tv out there, but the bad seems to far outweigh the good. and it seems like the tv is so central in american society that it's not used as a tool for imformation, but a tool to pass time and vegetate. which is all good if you only do it for an hour or something... but the national average is ridiculous.
oh yeah definitely...I know people who come home and watch tv all night...while doing homework...while eating dinner...in bed...it's ridiculous...and most of it is trash tv too
Books are amazing. When I was little both my parents would read to me, every night. Doing that they easily turned me on to books. I've loved reading them, since i could actually read. They take you places you can't go on your own. At the moment I think I've got like 6 books going at once, mainly because I got about five hundred of them(exageration of course) out of the library and then I've got a couple others of my own personal books that I'm trying to ready. I just love books.