Read. Experience. Learn. Repeat.

Hello there!

If you have read The Soulful Nib for quite a while now, you are surely acquainted with the fact that I am a hardcore book lover. I’ve in fact even written a blog post about reading habits way back when I started off this blog.

Books to me are my silent companions and brilliant teachers. There is SO much we can learn from books. I had lost touch with reading for a short period of time and hardly read the last year. But now, the reading bug has bitten me all over again. Of course, I couldn’t be happier about this! What better way to spend quality time than by reading a really good book.

We know that it is a great habit to cultivate. Why though? In this blog post, I am going to jot down a few reasons why reading should be a part of our daily lives. So here we go!

First and foremost, reading is a great way to enhance your vocabulary. Gone are the days when we would flip open our thick and heavy Oxford Dictionaries to look up the meaning of words. Do you remember the last time you held a dictionary in your hands? It was probably back in your school days. With our busy lives, we no longer have the time for that. But we have books. And what better way than to add new and interesting words to our vocabulary than by getting engrossed in a gripping story?

Reading is an escape, to say the least. We all work so hard these days, leaving us a stressed and drained-out mess. And it is at this time, my friends, that reading comes in like a knight in shining armour. When you curl up with a great book, probably with your favourite beverage beside you, time flies away. You feel instantly relaxed and rejuvenated. That’s the calm that reading brings to you.

Speaking of calm, reading to me, is like meditation. We meditate to soothe our nerves, to feel at peace and to be more mindful. When a person reads, they tend to get absorbed in the content, which slows them down and helps them to be in the moment. Fellow readers will know how deaf a person can be to the outside world when you read a brilliant story! The tranquillity that ensues is so powerful, you’ll want to keep coming back to it over and over again. It is an addiction if you can say so.

Reading books in the genre of your interest can be really inspiring and motivating. Say, you love to read up on productivity (I do! 😄), just look up for books written on productivity and you’ll be spoilt for choice! There are so many books out there, you’ll be amazed. Reading up on subjects of interest only strengthen your knowledge in those fields and help you in applying the concepts in your own life. Books are the best teachers one can get.

There is this wonderful quote about reading which goes:
“Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body” ~ Sir Richard Steele
Fact check: The brain is the most complex organ in our bodies and yet we give the least care to it. We exercise to keep our bodies in their best shape but forget about our brain. Reading can give your brains that workout it deserves. Books which are mentally stimulating, which coerce us to think new perspectives and learn, give our brains the much-needed boost.

And of course, having a small collection of books by your shelf and in your room is such a matter of pride. You can gaze at them for hours (again, I do this so often :P). You can proudly boast about your mini-library. Books are a great conversation-starter too!

With the rise in e-readers, reading a lot more books has only become easier. Goodreads is a GREAT platform for finding new books to read. Not to mention, you can even see what your friends and acquaintances are reading at the moment. Here’s my Goodreads profile for those who are interested.

We all want to read, but the same excuses persist, “we have no time for reading.” True that our days are packed and 24 hours seem less. But we can squeeze in some time each week to read, can’t we? I am not even saying that we should read every day (though it’s a GREAT habit). I do take the liberty to assume that we all have a few moments of free time, at least during the weekends. So why not squeeze in at least 30 minutes of reading each week. Trust me, it’s not much. And most of the time, if the book is engaging, 30 minutes will pass quickly and you’ll end up reading beyond that time limit. 🙂

Are you a bibliophile like me? What books do you like to read? I would LOVE to know in the comments!

Until next time, stay blessed!

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