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The Reader

"Why do your read?"

It was a perfectly innocent question and it took me aback for a while. If she had asked "Why read?", I could have given a plethora of answers, from the many 'xx Reasons why you should read articles there was never any shortage of online.

 It improves your concentration.

 Your vocabulary gets better.

 It makes you more empathetic.

 But were they the reasons I read? Not really. Yes I believed that reading probably had those benefits and I also believed I had gained superior intelligence and skills of language, refinement and empathy that was unmatched by the vast majority of the people around me whose skills were degraded by the countless hours spent watching videos on their smartphones ( I did never admit to reading making me more humble). O, that might be a bit far fetched but there was certainly a pleasurable sense of 'I am different from the technology controlled masses' that I derived from reading books.

But was that it?

To be honest, I do not know. The belief in benefits of reading certainly play a part, so do the 'I am different' feeling. I also read out of habit with reading being something my father inculcated in me as a child. Is it fun? Yes, but not as much as Youtube. It being a quieter and calmer hobby helps. Of course, everyone loves a story, be it the guy who reads the book or the one who is watching the movie.  It is something ingrained in us from the moment our parents read us bedtime stories.

However, one of the main reasons I read has to be for epiphanies. I enjoy these thoroughly, going to the extent of noting them down for future reference. After hours of reading, there is a great sense of satisfaction in a certain statement, dialogue, fact or opinion that puts to light something inside me that I have never been able to put to words or never really understood, realised or considered or something that helps me to, simply put, live life better.(An example being my post 'The Futility of Regret'). That certainly is one of the best parts about reading, after hours of slow, uneventful reading, having that moment of truth.

Could I get all this from watching a movie? Yes sure. Then why do I still read?

I told you. I don't know.
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