Why I read, and you should too.

If you Google 'why should I read' or ' why people read', you will get over 7,82,00,00,000 search results, that's more than the article you can ever read in one lime. We have always been encouraged to read more. Nobody, however, explains to you why you should read more, and what you should read.

Reading is a very personal experience, like everything else. If you read a comic book, is it still read? Yes. Reading from a blog, to the article, to the report of Forbes magazine about this years '30 under 30 Artists' is also reading. You can read anything and everything, and it would have the same impact on you. Here are reasons why reading helps me.

For Fun

Getting the most obvious reason out of the way, I read for fun. I read books for the story, fantasy, romance, action, drama, but most of all the murder mystery. I read whenever I can find time to partake in an astral projection of my mind into the world of fantasy. It is said that a reader lives a thousand lives, and I know it to be true, because I have travelled and seen things from the perspective of so many protagonists that I am not satisfied with that reality anymore.

To Build.

To build what you may ask? To build my imagination. All the accidents that I read in fiction form the building block of my fantasy, the mould into the stones for the foundation of my imagination. Constructing my own world in my mind palace, that perfect union of the best parts of all the troops I have ever come across in all the literature. Building vocabulary is also an essential part of reading. So today if I can't use the words like' upholster' and ostentatious in my common vocabulary, it's because I read Twilight in 2011.

To Hold Conversations

Reading is mostly, but not limited to, an introvert activity. If you, like myself, are not nearly as good in conversations as your extrovert friends, then reading is your paradise. Reading has helped me come up with responses that I have read from the book. You have definitely seen your favourite character in the same life situation, so what do you do? you take inspiration from the character and give the same response. In short, you use your fiction reading as a guide to real-life situations. (whilst hoping it goes that same way as it did for the character)

To Writer Better

As a writer, my reading selection matters. I read most of the things I can get my hands on without falling into the criticism of whether it is good or bad. Indeed, not everything you will read will not be written with immaculate vocabulary or without grammatical blunders, but it comes with a lesson for sure. In technical quality, whether the reading material is good, have skills you can learn from it. You can take a lesson on tone and sentence structure and other technical skills by studying the text, but it is not good, you know what mistakes you should not make. Writing skills come from reading.

To Know The Value of Time

Some fools think reading fiction is a waste of time. In my opinion, you only learn the value of time when you start reading. When you are reading, time seems to move slowly. Although this is a blessing in disguise for all the readers, the pace of time when reading tells you how much potential one minute has. Every second is noticeable when you're reading, you can only compress the length of one whole minute when you are reading. Moreover, when you are at a very interesting spot in your book, and you need to know the conclusion of the ongoing action, but you are about one minute away from the station, you know how short one minute can be. Time is volatile, incomprehensible, fluid, and beyond the control of our mere existence. These are a few observations I have made while reading.

To Deal With Harsh Reality and Cope

Contemporary and classic work of friction has dealt with and touched upon all types of traumas of the world. There is most likely you can find a character that you can relate to. It is the sad part that so many people can relate to these devastated characters that are a fragment of tortured artists' imagination yet it is comforting to have a healthy coping mechanism to deal with the harsh reality of life. It is undeniable that reading has an impact on our lives and when we come across something we can relate to we feel intrigued. Reading can be a positive coping mechanism for people.

To Reduce Stress

Of course, the most common thing about reading is that it reduces stress. Reading has been known to strengthen your connection with reality and brainpower. Reading can also improve your memory and many memory-related health risks.

To Get A New Perspective

When a book gets published it is cross-checked and edited by a range of people with different ideologies and notions. When you are reading, you gain a brand new perspective from all these people and the combination of them. That in combination with your own prejudice can help you gain a new perspective and might be able to change some incorrect ideas that you had. For example, living in a homophobic environment can make you believe that being Queer is against your religious beliefs and sinful. If one day you come across an article about a homosexual man, who painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, and created the sculpture of one of the most iconic figures in the Bible that serve as a prototype of male physique under the commission of the pope, you will be astounded. You are infallible to have some change in your perception.

In Conclusion...

Read. Anything you can, but mostly what they tell you not to.