A Reason to Read
I write a lot about to reasons to write, but I don’t give enough attention to what we get from reading. And since we are reading less and skimming more, I’m concerned.
When we’re following the storyline in a personal essay or reading the interjections from a memoirist, we are experiencing what the writer William Bradley described as “curiosity in action.” Done well, we feel like we are inside the mind of another human being which helps us cultivate the very human, but harder-to-find quality of empathy.
In his essay “Acquiring Empathy Through Essays,” Bradley writes, “It’s impossible for us to live the lives of others, of course, but essays give us a record of someone else’s consciousness—the act of reading these essays and interacting with these minds on the page is the closest thing we have to telepathy in the real world.”
I couldn’t agree more. Working with writers on stories from their lives on topics that are out of my realm of experience has been eye opening and heart expanding. Good writing from one’s life can tell a captivating story of specificity which speaks to something universal at the same time. The more stories I read, the more I feel like I’ve traveled out of my comfort zone and sometimes, into felt experience.
It has been powerful to go to these places I would not have had the chance to go:
· The former Navy submarine officer’s adventures from - and longing for - the sea.
· What it was like for a mother’s to witness her son’s journey through ALS.
· How it felt to come out to family and friends in the 1980s.
· The decision to leave home and sail around the globe.
· A daughter’s reconstruction of her Dutch father’s WII military journey.
· One woman’s survival of childhood trauma by her parent.
· A 70-something American woman’s choice to work in the Israeli army.
· One woman’s survival and management of a mystery illness.
· Memoir-in-essays on living with and managing mental illness.
· Essays on being Black, feminist and activist.
“We may not necessarily agree with the essayist, or even find her likeable,” writes Bradley, “but we at least come to understand her thoughts and point-of-view in a deep and significant way; … we come to understand other people in general in a deep and significant way.”
Book sales were up during the height of the pandemic. But they have since slowed. I worry about our reading habits. They are changing. For me, too. I admit to being more likely to turn to streaming entertainment than paper or electronic pages at the end of a long day.
But though television and movies and books all offer escapism and travel from our seats, streaming allows us to multitask and reading or listening to stories asks us to be more proactive. We’ve got to hold onto that book or tablet; concentrate on that recording or storyline to keep up. Reading and listening asks us for more, but offers a deeper experience in return.
And take us places we could never go on foot.
Photo by Ellen Blum Barish
Coming Up
“How to Write Trauma Without Retraumatizing Yourself.” Ritualwell (online). Free, one and a half hour single session workshop. Tuesday, March 28, 2023, 10 am (CT).
“From Brokenness to Healing: Making Meaning Through Memoir.” Ritualwell (online). Six-week workshop on writing trauma from a place of strength and craft. Tuesdays, April 25 - May 23, 2023, 11-12:30 pm (CT).