While I was scrolling through Facebook (procrastinating, of course), I came across Kjersten Piper’s article, “What Happened When I Replaced Netflix with Books” from Her Campus at Gustavus. It honestly made my heart sing. As an English major, I love seeing people discover the sheer joy books can bring to our lives. Whether your type is YA (young adult) literature, 50 Shades, or the nerdiest book, I promise, there is a book out there for you. Piper’s article is encouraging for those that don’t read as much, but it made me think about how much I read and why I stopped reading for pleasure.
DISCLAIMER: This is not an article bragging about how terrible majors with reading are. If you chose your major, you chose this life :)
Between 4 English classes, I read roughly 2 books (~600 pages), a handful of scholarly essays (~20 pages each), and various short stories in one week to prepare for classes, and, despite being tired, I love it. I’ve loved reading since I started with I Hate My Bow at age four. As I’ve progressed through two years of college, I’ve found myself reading outside of homework less and less.
After so much reading (Shoutout to all those English, Law, Anthro, etc. majors that used to love reading… R.I.P.), I honestly won’t gravitate toward a book. On the rare chance I do, I’ll either feel guilty that I’m reading for pleasure instead of the essay due on Monday or I’ll want to binge watch an entire of season of Game of Thrones (@ July 16th… come faster) to do something mindless.
If anything, being a “reading major” has taught me that being mindless is sometimes the best way to become mindful. Drowning yourself in something you have to do isn’t always the best immersion method. Sometimes you have to step away from something you love so you don’t burnout. Finish your work. Give yourself time to recover. Watch that whole season of America’s Next Top Model. Listen to that new album you’ve been dying to for weeks. Just don’t forget about that shelf of books you’ve been itching to read when summer holiday comes around.