Easy Reading? Someone Paid.

I'm Growing into My Tomorrow

You are What You Read:

You know reading is synonymous with eating at the restaurant. The quality of the writing determines how much you can decipher. The type of future you desire will determine the kind and quality of books, writing you devote your time. People classified as N.F.A (No Future Ambition) spend their time and energy on gossip magazines and headlines. They do not have enough sense to press further.

They tell everyone they read, all in a bid to make themselves happy and look like they have some sense upstairs, yet self-deceiving, and depreciating. Just like junk food is destructive to a person's physical health, junk books and magazines don't do any better for your psychological health. Since such missed the class, let me fill the gap, "Leaders are readers, but not readers of junk."

Quality Reading = Quality Life:

Leaders are readers of quality materials, rightly chosen to provide them with giants on whose shoulders they can stand and see further than they could ever have on their own. They want books that help feed and sharpen their minds on the issue(s) in their present and future path. They pick books that stimulate their imaginations and to create solutions in their chosen endeavors.

They choose books that create a companionship for them in ways and areas no human can. At least not one in their immediate environment or contact list. Through the medium of a book, their soul can fellowship with the soul of the writer. All communication, you know, is between hearts, not heads. Right? Books are not exempt. They are a medium of communication just as well. 

A Good Book is a Time Machine:

A good book is one which will give you that experience. It will speak to you. The deep in the heart of the writer will call to the deep in you. A good writer is one with a soul and can transmute the same into his or her writing. So, when you pick up a book, remember you are picking up a soul, not mere sheets of paper or electronic print. You are picking up someone's life, someone's philosophy, someone's beliefs, 

Through the medium of a book, we can meet with the sages of old and even those in our present age. We can call on the soul of Cicero, Seneca, Paul the Apostle, John the beloved, Socrates, Anais, Stephen Covey, Napoleon Hill, Earl Nightingale, etc. We can dine on the same table with them and glean from their wisdom without having to go through the same rigor that elevated them.

Let us Dine:

It is synonymous with the experience of sitting in that premium restaurant and soaking in every single bite. It is having psychological intercourse with the chef, as we allow ourselves to be mesmerized by the meal's presentation, dressing, texture, marination, and seasoning. Everything communicates elegance in a way that fascinates our hearts. The chef leads us on a journey in time and space.

Intellectual Intercourse:

That is precisely the same embodying a writer seeks to evoke. It is intellectual intercourse between the writer's heart and that of the reader. So, the next time you pick up a good book, magazine, or article, remember it costs more than the price you are paying for it. A whole lot more than is visible to the ordinary eyes. 

It takes a heart in labor to bring to birth this intellectual offspring, book. Like Nathaniel, Hawthorne rightly puts it, “Easy reading is damn hard writing.” Respect the labor. 

Hoping this will help you treasure the ideas expressed in the writing even more.

© 2020 Akin Akinbodunse

Links to Other Resources:

Power of Reading (Frank Furedi)

The Power of Reading (Stephen D. Krashen)

The Rise and Fall of a Man of Letters (John J. Gross)