Of Reviving the Art of Reading

“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”
~ Michel Legrand

Confession time, folks!

Growing up, I was the kind of child who would read like books were going out of style (and they literally did!). I would read at the dinner table, in the car, in bed, under the covers, even hide in the bathroom and pretend I was using the toilet when I didn't want to be caught reading past my bedtime. Bookshops were my favourite places on Earth. I secretly rejoiced whenever my parents were hours late to pick me up from my various activities because I always had a book on hand or a library/bookshop to endlessly browse.

This changed for me in secondary school when national level exams became Priority #1. Between balancing schoolwork, extra curricular activities at school, dance and several tuition classes, time was a luxury. Whenever I read for pleasure, I'd feel guilty for not studying or doing other 'more productive' activities. Eventually, I lost the art of reading.

Fast forward to today, my brain has been trained to SKIM READ headlines and key sentences. Articles get shorter and shorter, as status updates, IG captions and clickbait headlines reign supreme as a form of communicating information. I'll admit... I struggle to focus on journal articles, let alone full length books. My reading speed is now embarrassingly low. 11-year-old me rolls her eyes at present me all the time.

IT. IS. A. CRYING. SHAME.

I've started taking steps to rectify this problem though. Setting a goal to read three books a month was step 1. A couple more things I aim to do are learning how to speed read and learning to appreciate non-fiction (I struggle through them) by next year. I might even invest in a Kindle, as I find it easier to focus on a screen compared to paper. I type this with a deep sense of self-loathing, but I feel like I've hit rock bottom and the only way from here is up. Somehow, that's pretty motivating :)