Well, that’s exactly the point! Reading takes time and energy, and for some reason many people see it as a kind of work rather than a form of entertainment. Perhaps it’s because of the school requirements, or because at 12 years old, almost everyone is more interested in their friends than in reading an old book, which is forced upon them. People associate entertainment with film and music because these things relax you — this is the message that remains after school.
I love all forms of art, including film and music, theatre, sculpture, painting, literature, and personally, I also include architecture in some cases, and a few other things. I’m not saying that art is the most important thing in the world, but I am saying that the world would be poorer without it. You can lose yourself in it, reflect on yourself, it makes you cry, or it provides comfort in moments when perhaps even those closest to us cannot truly calm us down.
A book is a great tool for this, because it takes a long time to read, so it gives us plenty of moments to immerse ourselves in another world, where we can meet villains, great helpers, cunning and clumsy characters, and by observing their behaviour and hearing their thoughts, we can recognise ourselves, but they can also give us a new perspective on how to relate to a person or how to handle certain situations.
It is also very good to read because you will be able to understand many things around you better, for example, when reading the books of earlier ages, you may realise that ‘everything was better in the old days’, is not actually true, the criticism that ‘men have become effeminate’ has been around basicly since the time of the knights, and the accusation that ‘young people don’t want to work’ has been documented for almost a thousand years, and people of all ages say that ‘the world is changing too quickly’. A person can see examples of love, criticism, difficulties and perseverance, and develop a way of thinking that is much more complex and diverse than that of people who don’t read.
Some things are best expressed through painting, others through music, and still others through film, but through the plots of books, we can delve into the minds of characters in a way that is not possible in any other art form, and we can imagine the world they inhabit as we wish. Nobody will distract us if a character is described as having green and black hair and long legs, but based on their character traits, we may imagine one of our friends, who actually has blonde hair and short legs, in their place.
The most important thing is the time we spend reading, when we can escape the swamp of our own problems, avoid overthinking, and still encounter interesting ideas, people, and places that transcend the limits of our current lives. With every book we read, we grow as a person.
In addition, the positive aspect of books is that the time and concentration they require can relieve our minds temporarily, unlike the constant buzz of social media, which naturally has its own charm and advantages, but still it is important to maintain balance and engage in simple, solitary activities that can calm our minds and nerves, away from the constant competition and self-comparison of daily life.
Have a pleasant time in the world of reading!
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