Challenge yourself
September 10, 2020
The world has changed in ways we never could have anticipated. We are challenged in unprecedented ways and yet I am encouraging all of us, children and adults to take that extra step. When it comes to reading, most of us choose books we are quite sure we will like; we are familiar with their ‘landscape,’ making us feel comfortable. Sometimes it’s good to try a book that doesn’t feel instantly so cozy and approachable.
Sometimes it’s worth challenging yourself to push past what feels just right and tackle a book that at first feels unfamiliar. The setting of the story might be a different time and place. The language of the story does not feel familiar The characters are not like anyone you know.
Rebecca Mead an author offered a wonderful metaphor for this experience— “ Think of (this experience) as climbing up into Papa Bear’s chair. Maybe it’s a stretch to get up there. But maybe once you’re up it’s not as hard as you feared. Maybe you’re bigger than you thought you were. Yes, your feet many be dangling off the floor. But you’d never have felt those luxurious cushions against your check, or seen how life looks from just a bit higher up, if you hadn’t tried it”
Inspiration begins with “I wonder”
January 20, 2020
Wistawa Szymborska, in her 1996 Nobel Laureate acceptance talk spoke of the people in the world whom inspiration visits. Though these people are blessed, inspiration has little to do with luck. She speaks of the how inspiration is born from a continuous “ I don’t know.” Readers are in a continuous state of I don’t […]
Reading & optimizing brain function
October 7, 2019
The value of reading fiction is receiving much attention these days and research suggests that people who read fiction are better at thinking creatively and they have more insight about others and their perspectives. In addition, brain science tells us that fiction, reading and talking about a story is an activity that helps integrate the […]
Reading as a powerful skill
July 30, 2019
If you were given the choice between the power of flying, invisibility or being able to read, which power would you choose? As intriguing as the first two might be, I think reading wins hands down in terms of granting you access to the wisdom of the smartest people who ever lived. Reading might just […]
The Courage to be curious
July 8, 2019
Curiosity drives one to know what is not easily apprehended. It takes courage to go where your curiosity takes you. Good readers are curious people, they strive to know. While reading an essay on the significance of reading in a person’s life, I came across an anecdote of a child who dares to ask big […]
