Stop Wasting Your Life on Trash and Read More Books

“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” — Oscar Wilde

“The person, be it gentleman or lady, who has not pleasure in a good novel, must be intolerably stupid.” — Jane Austen

Nothing makes me sadder than the gradual death of literature we’re witnessing. Movies are more abundant and grander than ever before. We are in a golden era of television that has been masterful in its depiction of long-form storytelling and character development. There is an infinite collection of essays, articles, commentary, and thoughts du jour available on the internet and plenty of it, if you’re willing to look, is very good. But there is something about the immersiveness and intimacy of a good book that’s hard to rival. A good book is a guided meditation into a rich tapestry of character study, ethical discourse, and almost limitless world building. After all, meditation is shutting everything else out so we can surrender fully to a specific mental state. Who hasn’t lost themselves completely in the parallel universe created for them by an adept author?

We can learn a lot about ourselves from a good book. We can try other personalities and value systems on for size that either confirm or evolve our worldview. We can become more aware of the richly different ways life is being lived outside of our own minds. A good book can make our heart ache with pain for someone who never was. The tests and triumphs of our favorite characters can give us a reservoir of resolve to call on when we are challenged in our own lives. A good book can permanently change us. And that’s real power.