Reading for a Distraction
I have always enjoyed reading books. It teaches individuals a lot about life and also keeps our growing mind — flowing with imagination. I read books as a hobby, and occasionally, as a necessity for school. I usually spend 40 minutes to an hour of reading a day, yet being a slow and easy reader, I only flick through a few pages a day. My motivation to read are for the feelings to be feared, excited, thrilled or humored through the use of words. I particularly enjoy fiction novels, especially stories relating to people of the same age as me. However, one of the biggest reasons and motivations for me to read books, is to be distracted from technology. This may differ from many other students and teenagers in this current age, as they see books as a waste of time and effort, distracting their day to day life. I too say that books causes a distraction, but a distraction from the online world, and into my own world of thoughts, imagination and discovery.
Social media is used by more than 3 billion people and these robots are increasingly becoming enclosed in their own techno made sphere. They are absorbed inside a bubble and are busy with their social appearance, and are constantly required to pay attention to their phones; catching up on every text, drama and news. But one of the most important uses of the internet and technology is to be distracted or entertained.
A common use for devices and technology is used for watching videos online, chatting and playing games to distract ourselves from work, and stressful tasks in life. The internet and technology is used to disembark from our tiresome and laborious life and we end up spending hours on these gadgets, which is why I sometimes feel like I have to detach myself from these machines. And by doing this, I discovered reading books. Reading books is an enjoyable activity, that relaxes and expands the mind. One of the biggest reasons for my enthusiasm towards books is because I attempt to avoid screen time as much as possible. Our everyday lives require us to use our technology. Work, school, study, designing, listening and socializing. We become so reliant with our screens that we are using it for both our work and play, for basically two thirds of our day! This amount of usage could lead to many health issues, as well as take up our time to do other activities in life. Our usage time on technology is taking over our life, plus I usually find it difficult to concentrate when doing tasks presented on screens. It may be just me, but I find it difficult to focus for a period of time when doing work with electric powered lights being emitted through a box (right now I find it quite difficult). So I result in reading books, with natural light and printed words that I can imagine in my head, and avoid the use of technology.
My enthusiasm towards reading has surprisingly increased. Because we are utilizing technology more often, I have resulted in reading more books to earn a balance between the two. In addition, school work has not become too overwhelming, and I find myself reading in my spare time. This year however, I have been introduced to Wider Reading. A task used to encourage students, like and unlike myself, to read more books, from different categories, containing different genres and stories. I have been enjoying this task lately, however the categories are not as flexible with me there are a few I enjoy. I have read science fiction series (Ascension — Peter Dixon, a Phobos adventure to mars), horror books(Fear Street series by R.L Stine as they are without a doubt my favourite books), and some school based books such as 1984 — George Orwell. These books have taught me a lot and opened a deeper perspective. Certain novels which I might read next are a book set in Africa or Asia, a book by a Nobel prize winner and a book made in the year I was born. Nevertheless, my interest towards reading books would still continue.
The Island: If I were to survive on an island and I could bring ten books of my interest, I would bring: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows | The Hunger Games | Party Games | Romeo and Juliet | Mein Kampf | Old Tom| Yellow Pages | Where’d You Go Bernadette | Fifty Shades of Grey | The Holy Bible. All with different comprehension levels, genres and time. Essentially, I would spend a long time reading on an island, possibly learning about survival, or entertaining myself and comprehending difficult literature for most of my stranded life. The Yellow Pages book is convenient in many ways, especially survival.
Overall, I sincerely enjoy reading books, as a hobby and an essential task for English. I admit I am definitely not the best reader, or the most motivated, however I can say I enjoy reading books and using it as a distraction whenever my time on the screen becomes lengthy.
