“Reader’s block”
Sunshine filtering through the windows of a cafe. Some good coffee by my side. Finally stepped out on this lazy Sunday afternoon after an unplanned siesta. Not to mention, the book that I’ve been trying to finish for the past two months is still faithfully by my side.
There was a point when I read voraciously. Like with millions of others, books took me to another world, seemingly for good. And I don’t know when…but real life consumed me so intensely that all my fantasy worlds were shut off. Responsibilities to deliver, anxiety to feed and problems to cope with – from a point where reading was an escape, it became a sort of restricted pleasure. I couldn’t read anymore. My mind wouldn’t focus on a book more than a page at a time. I couldn’t put my finger on why this happened or how I can overcome it. My reading list to this day overflows with books that I want to jump into. Genres that still interest me to death. But I’m physically incapable of seeing them through as steadily as I used to.
After months of going through this problem, I finally realised something obvious – I could only read if I consciously recreated the joy that I always got from it. I had to let myself go into those worlds again and not only that – I should make it a priority like any other work that I deem “important”. With this in mind, I started taking my reading lists more seriously. I thought more about what I was reading instead of other negative things that were holding me back. I wrote reminders to myself. They didn’t work at first. But sub consciously, my mind realised what I was trying to do. It was like regaining an old love. And when I started feeling the change, it was wonderful. It was one of the best feelings I’d ever experienced. I can’t wait to build on this feeling and plough through my reading list now with more vigour! One of the books that really got me back to this groove was Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri. Reading her short stories filled with realistic characters and soulful writing helped me experience that can’t-put-the-book-down phenomenon again.
I wanted to share this here to ask if anyone else went through something similar. What did you do to get through it?
As I finish writing this post, I look expectantly at that very book on the coffee table and the old sense of excitement is priceless. (For the sake of context, it’s Good Omens by Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman. Hilarious read.)
