Reading for Pleasure
“If a book is well written, I always find it too short.”
Jane Austen
Someone recently told me that I should slow down the pace of my reading so that I could enjoy the book for longer. Whilst I appreciate the mindful intention here to savour the moment and not rush, this comment really made me think.
Is there an optimum reading pace that will give me a more pleasurable mindful experience?
Should I slow down my reading to be more mindful, or could more profound depths of pleasure and self-reflection be uncovered by immersing myself in a book?
Reading has been shown to be a wonderful tonic to mental wellbeing, reducing stress, increasing emotional intelligence and a recommended strategy for aiding sleep. Reading is one of my favourite ways to spend my free time, to grow my mind and escape to different worlds of imagination. Holding a book in my hands and wrapping my knees into my body, curling up with a cup of tea fills me with such pleasure. I find the winter season gifts me with the most space to read, space that I often feel is tricky to find (or give myself permission for) in the demands of other months.
As we slow with the seasons, I feel I am more able to immerse myself in a book, to feel the flow of a writer in my soul. To read in a constant wave, without the stop-start of life’s usual interruptions. It gives me the opportunity to fully delve into the story, to feel it in my bones, to let it change me in ways I could never have anticipated, like a full body, mind and soul experience, that is still achievable, but perhaps limited when reading short snippets of a novel at a time.
There is something so addictive about a book that grips you and you simply cannot wait to turn the page to discover where the story will take you. I appreciate that this feeling of anticipation can be part of the pleasure and there is a case for pausing here to feel it. I remember having to wait a week to watch the next episode of my favourite TV shows. My teen years were full of Dawson’s Creek conversations, will Joey end up with Dawson or Pacey? I can still feel the excitement which built, that was part of the enjoyment. I felt the same suspense waiting for the new episodes of Stranger Things recently, something our typical binge-watching media providers don’t always encourage us to do. I could not wait to discover how the genius Duffer brothers had written the fate of the characters I had grown to love.
When I turn the final page of a book and it has moved me emotionally, I may not want the story to end, I may want to go back and feel the chapters unfold, the character progression and twists that I had not foretold again and again. Instinctively I hold the book to my heart, in an attempt to store the emotions within me as I send wishes of gratitude to the writer and the hours they spent creating something so beautiful.
“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
Stephen King
In our society of video shorts and 30 second optimum social media, are we missing the complete joy of wholeness, to allow our brains to roll with threads of thought in one area, rather than swiping quickly to the next thing and the next…
Do our brains have time to really interpret and grow from such fleeting snippets of information? Can we explore our thoughts, our questions, our inner voice of wondering, our sparks of creativity?
I guess there is some truth to be found in the comment ‘you should slow down your reading’ to enjoy it mindfully. However personally I feel that there is also magic to be found when we slow down the world around us and we sink into a story, fully, completely present and giving full appreciation and respect to be held in the hands of the writer to guide us on an introspective journey of growth. I believe this is still mindfulness at its very best. `Whatever your reading pace is, I hope it brings you great pleasure long after you have turned the final page.
With love
Sarah x