Reading For Enjoyment

Written By Colēgia

Reading is an extremely helpful life skill that can help us in a multitude of areas. Something we might forget at times with how busy life can be is that reading for enjoyment can be incredibly rewarding. Making time for this allows us to gain new perspectives along with immersing ourselves in fiction, and learning skills in the process. Today we want to look at why it's so important to continue reading for enjoyment outside of the classroom.

Fiction And Perspective

Fiction is an extremely good use of reading time since it provides so many benefits for readers. For one it gives us a means of escapism and can help us immerse ourselves in the different worlds that authors create. It provides a method for understanding different points of view through the different characters within a story. It can also help us see past biases as well. For example, a story told from a first-person point of view inherently comes with a character’s bias. The benefit of this is that we're able to see things specifically through their own lens which for them is reality as they know it. A story told from a third-person point of view provides a bit more detail from others’ perspectives and can help us see things from multiple angles. Fiction helps us see ourselves in these characters so that we can use the lessons learned as moral examples.

“For example, a story told from a first-person point of view inherently comes with a character’s bias.”

A Mental Reprieve

Taking time to relax is a necessity for our well-being and reading functions as a great mental reprieve. The great thing about reading is that the world is our oyster as far as what we want to enjoy. One day we may feel more inclined to read a self-help book to better ourselves. Another day we might be interested in reading up about the folklore of different cultures around the world to give us a better understanding of the ideas they value. Or some days we might just want to sit down and catch up on a comic book or manga series that we love. Each of these are valid ways to spend your free time since they help you relax and they also demonstrate an appreciation for the craft that goes into writing.

“Taking time to relax is a necessity for our well-being and reading functions as a great mental reprieve.”

Reading Helps You Grow

One of the truly great things about reading for enjoyment is that it helps you grow as an individual. Critical thinking is one such skill that a good story can engage us in. A good example of this can be a mystery novel since we're effectively trying to piece together the different plot pieces to understand the bigger picture. This can also be seen when it comes to character dialogue as well since there's merit in reading between the lines to see whether a character’s intent is sincere. Being exposed to multiple writing styles also gives us inspiration for creativity since we're seeing different ideas with many unique voices. Reading provides us with a relaxing way of enjoying our time and it's worth making space for it in your life.

Colēgia

Colēgia

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