Comfortably settled in my favorite chair, I wish to be immersed in books and literary magazines, entrenched in imaginary worlds created by wonderful words. The feel of a book cradled in my hands: the weight of it, the tangy smell of ink, the crispness of paper, the joy of escape. Reading engages the mind and sparks the imagination. As I read along with the author, conjuring the world being created just for me, just me, the reader of this book at this time, I soon jump off into another world, one of my own making. It is that leap from enjoying another's effort to the creation of my own that I need.
Everyday reading, reading for work or school does not ignite that passionate response. Work words, textbook words, do not tumble together in brilliant repose. They are structured, black and white, right and wrong. There is little room for imagination and flights of fancy. Valuable these words may be but they leave little room for a wondering, and wandering mind. They offer no relief the jumble that builds inside my head. The words I read for pleasure, that spark the imagination, inform me of the greater world, are the words I seek out because these are the words that give shape and structure to the jumble.
This article at the The Nervous Breakdown says it beautifully. Go there and READ IT!!! Then get yourself to a bookstore, go to Amazon, get something and READ!
While you are over there join the book club at The Nervous Breakdown and support the outstanding effort of all the folks over there as well as feed your brain!!!
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