With so much going on in the world, it’s easy for us to get caught up in a fast-paced life. However, every once in a while it is incredibly important for us to sit down and relax. Nowadays, this relaxation usually comes in the form of a Netflix or Hulu binge or an hour on social media, but one really great way to wind down is to read for pleasure! Reading has become such a laborious task in the eyes of many people. When you spend all day reading for school or work, it becomes less desirable to do so in your free time, but here are four reasons why we NEED to bring back reading for pleasure.
- Improved Brain Function
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Reading is known as one of the most beneficial skills to have. Aside from just the importance of literacy however, reading for pleasure can be good for your brain for many reasons. Reading for pleasure has been known to help with vocabulary growth, keeping your mind active, and sometimes even slowing the effects of dementia. As reading for pleasure becomes a less common leisure activity, it is important for us to continue to pick up a novel every once in a while because the mental benefits are amazing. Those who read for pleasure are often lifelong learners who keep active minds well into the later stages of their lives. Reading for pleasure is instrumental in keeping your brain active.
- Understanding Yourself
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Reading for pleasure helps to keep your brain active and is a common activity of lifelong learners. However, one of the most important benefits of reading for pleasure most people don’t even notice: the better understanding of yourself that you acquire. Through reading the stories of others, you are given more opportunities to reflect on yourself as a person. When exploring the driving forces of other peoples’ stories, you may start to discover the driving force of your own. Many people also find stress relief through reading, and this release of stress opens you up for the opportunity to reflect on what may be causing it. Reflection is a key component of pleasure reading. When given the time to think about what you have read, you begin to apply it to yourself, and these lessons can help you to be the best person you can be. Ultimately, reading for pleasure has many benefits, from improved brain function to personal reflection that can help you to be a happier version of yourself.
- Understanding Others
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Another benefit of reading for pleasure is that it increases empathy and understanding of others. This is surprising to many people because reading is often seen as a very introspective and individual activity. However, when being faced with stories about others from other points of view, we are able to better understand the feelings of those around us. This is incredibly beneficial for both your career and personal life. We are always stuck with the thoughts in our own heads, however reading opens us up to the thoughts and experiences of other people. Once hearing these outside perspectives we tend to become more empathetic. This betters our relationships with those around us because we can better understand them.
- Understanding the World
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Lastly, reading for pleasure can give us a better understanding of the world around us. We all spend so much time in our own bubble that we can forget that a whole world exists outside of what we know. When we take the time to read accounts of others’ experiences, we become a little more worldly without having to leave our homes. Similarly to how I mentioned before about understanding individuals feelings better, reading for pleasure can also help us understand whole cultures better. Reading helps to expand your horizons and contextualize the world around you, especially the parts you haven’t experienced. This helps us to be more understanding and compassionate to people at a world level.
Overall, reading for pleasure has a myriad of benefits and these are just a few of them. In a world where we can so easily turn on mindless TV and forget about everything, it is important for us to bring back the art of reading for pleasure because it benefits your entire being.
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