This past summer, my mom went on a cruise for 5 days all by herself. She did not contact anyone (not even me and my stepmom). Her reason? She wanted to read and not be distracted by her phone, work or even her family.  At the end, she had successfully completed six books.  Her job is very demanding and being able to take this cruise meant she had to take time off.  When she returned, she had to work even more to catch up on everything that she had missed while she was gone.  Did the result outweigh the consequences?  She thought so.

What does it say about the society we live in that we have to go to such extremes in order to simply read?  People who read for pleasure are few and far between in this day and age.  Even when we are lucky enough to pick up a book (which is even more rare), our minds are constantly thinking about something else.  What else we could be doing.  That thing we have to turn in.  What we’re having for dinner.  It takes immense concentration and dedication in order to read for even an hour without the mind drifting or being distracted.

I used to be an avid reader.  Until it started to become a requirement.  I believe it was in middle school when I had my first required book to read for class.  While I wanted to read it, at first, it quickly became frustrating for me to be reading multiple books at the same time (for pleasure and for school).  I couldn’t stop reading the one that was required, so I had to stop reading the one I wanted to.  This trend continued through high school.  I noticed the amount of reading I was doing slowly diminishing.  Once I got to college though, we didn’t have to read full-on novels anymore.  Any required readings were now articles, chapters of a textbook, etc.  I was able to start reading for fun again.  And yes, it became fun for the first time in a long time.  I enjoyed reading once more.

It still is harder for me to pick up a book than it was when I was little, but once I do, I am immersed in it.  Nowadays, I tend to read more digital versions of books (they’re cheaper and more transportable), but when I get a real book in my hands, I just take a moment and savor that feeling.  It’s a wonderful thing.