TTT: 10 Reasons Why I Love Reading

Reading is such a huge part of my life, and yet somehow I married someone who only ever read books for school because he was forced to do it. I feel bad for anyone who doesn’t realize the joy of reading, but then, he thinks it’s weird that I don’t enjoy a lot of the more hands-on things he enjoys like woodworking and fishing. We are the definition of “opposites attract” when it comes to our main sources of entertainment.

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It helps me learn about different people, cultures and places.
I grew up in Ontario, Canada and have lived here my entire life. I’ve barely travelled, and although I meet people every day who are from different parts of the world, I have never visited any of their homelands. Reading is how I travel.

I get to escape what’s going on in my own life for a little while.
Sometimes life gets hard and you just want to run away, but you can’t. Reading takes me away from the current situation, gives me a chance to breathe, and then I can come back to things with a clearer head.

It teaches me to be patient.
Sometimes it’s hard to wait, but I can only read as fast as my brain will process things, and if I don’t want to miss key elements of the story I have to be patient to get to the next page. Some people like to skip to the end to satisfy their curiosity, but I’ve always believed that the journey is equally as enjoyable as the conclusion.

I can detach from the digital world.
Although I do use an e-reader and listen to audiobooks, having a book in my hand, laying on a blanket in the backyard or curled up on the couch is so satisfying. I get to turn off that constant buzz of activity that seems to invade our lives all the time now.

I learn about myself.
Sometimes when I’m reading I find myself really connecting with the characters on things that I never really considered about myself. It might be something to do with their simple likes and dislikes, or something more in-depth like mental health issues. Over time I’ve learned to look for these clues about myself and question why I’m feeling so connected to a fictional or real person through their words and thoughts.

I’m able to get in touch with my emotions.
One of the things I work on with my therapist is learning to recognize both good and bad emotions because for so long I was taught to suppress both. Now when I’m crying or laughing about a certain part of a book I am learning to pay attention to what’s setting off those reactions so that when the same thing happens in real life I can understand why.

It’s relaxing and exciting at the same time.
Reading is relaxing because most people do it while sitting or laying down, but you still the excitement of visiting new worlds, following interesting characters on their adventures, or learning something new. You can also do it while doing other things, such as when you are listening to an audiobook and cooking or cleaning.

I can feed my curiosity.
I love learning new things, and tend to go down rabbit holes of information when something peaks my interest. I’ve have learned about quantum physics, tarot reading, Indigenous healing, and many other random things that seemed interesting and I wanted to learn more.

It teaches me to communicate better.
They say that every good writer is also a reader. I believe that, and also think that reading helps you learn how to share ideas and opinions with others in a better way. By reading how others have described an idea or concept, you learn how to share that with others.

I get to share the excitement of a good book with other readers.
All of us book bloggers have one thing in common, which is that we love to share our favourite books with others. I’m lucky enough to do this in a professional capacity as a bookseller as well. I get such a thrill from sharing a new book or book related thing with someone who is just as excited about it as me.

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Why do you love reading?

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Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new Top Ten list for anyone to answer. Just add a link to them on your post, and add your name to the weekly linky!

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