Dust the Bookshelf
I never found value in taking time to read books for leisure. Reading always seemed like it was something I had to do for school and I always admired people who had a love for literature because in my mind they were the “smart kids.” It wasn’t until my sophomore year of college that I realized that reading leisurely is enjoyable and can help improve your mental health. During my sophomore year, I decided to fast from all social media and tv for lent, and boy let me tell you that was hard, but I needed it. I didn’t need to watch another season of Survivor and I needed to engage in something that would help me grow intellectually. So, I started to read. It was the only thing I could do in my free time anyways.
At first, reading for 20 minutes felt like 4 hours, and most of the time I found myself easily put to sleep. I had to build up my reading stamina, which is just funny to say because I don’t even have exercise stamina, but I digress. After forcing myself to read, 20 minutes a day turned into an hour which turned into two or more hours a day.
You might be asking yourself; how do you have time to read that much? Well, you make time. I began to see reading as something that was far more important to do every day than spend hours on YouTube. There was sort of a gratification factor that came with it too. Like I knew that if or when I finished a book, I could place it on a shelf and relish in it like it was a prized trophy.
I just finished the Harry Potter series for the first time, and I was reflecting on Harry’s character and how willing he was to give his life to his friends and to save the wizarding world. He was brave and determined to seek justice. Not to mention his friends were incredibly cool. Their dynamic was inviting, and I found myself wanting to be their friend to be a part of the adventure too. But this story with Harry and his friends made me think about my own story and what character I was playing. In my own story, am I brave like Harry? Or am I more like a Draco Malfoy? These are kind of some cliché references, but the concept remains true. We have these unique stories that we are living but what kind of character are we choosing to be within our stories?
I think too often we can fall in love with characters or escape reality through books, or even tv shows for that matter, that we forget that we have our own stories to tell. Each one of us has such a unique story that no other person in the entire world has lived. This is mind-blowing to me! We get this great gift to embrace where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going in the future and share that with those around us. People are attracted to these stories because it connects them to humanity, even if it is a more than ideal reality. They are undoubtedly attracted to the human experience. Stories don’t have to remain in books on shelves and actually, they shouldn’t. We have great power to take our stories down from the dusty bookshelf and continue to write, to develop the character that we want to be in the story of our own lives, and to share that with the world.
Good Company is a ministry at the University of Kansas. We seek to bring authentic connection in a world of AirPods.