Reading is Grounding
Until we moved, we were daily newspaper subscribers — meaning actual, physical papers. (We’ll get back to it!) I have a hard time keeping up digitally (we have a handful of digital news subs) partly for the reasons that Cal Newport discussed in a newsletter about unplugging (for a bit) after you vote: “I suggest you switch to a slower pace of media consumption. Don’t laugh at this suggestion, because I’m actually serious: consider picking up the occasional old-fashioned printed newspaper (free from algorithmic optimization and click-bait curation) at your local coffee shop or library to check in, all at once, on anything major going on in the world.” Personally, I like to see the news laid out in one place, not click around on some rabbit trail. (Yes, I do understand the concept of breaking news, but nonetheless.)
I’m sitting here reading Playground by Richard Powers, and all I keep thinking about is how the act of reading a book is grounding. It almost doesn’t matter what it is. I get so annoyed with the #cozy #bookworm vibes that the retail world (and yeah, totally social media) puts forth. It feels so juvenile. Similarly, I find all these cliches so tiring: Reading is political, reading is travel, reading is learning.
I don’t disagree with any of those, by the way. But I’d like to change the verbiage a bit and suggest that reading a book is *meditative* and *grounding.* I feel good when I open a book. A book often makes me want to sit up straighter. It makes me receptive to what’s going on around me. Books are not media the same way a newspaper is, but I wholeheartedly agree with Newport’s endorsement for a “slower pace.” Of course a book’s content is its most important feature (duh), but maybe it would behoove us to think about what our headspace is like when we opt to reach for a book. (I understand for some, this will mean clicking a button or donning ear buds, but for me, it’s just not the thing.)
Just as in yoga you must be acutely aware of your body and even minor movements, I’d argue that we should treat reading the same. After all, we can’t accomplish much of anything if we’re not grounded.
{Site of future Uptown branch of Charlotte Mecklenburg Library!}
originally published on instagram