I always say I don't have time to read because I'm busy. I run a business. I'm a mom. I'm developing an educational game and organizing art exhibits. I take the time to exercise and spend with my daughter. I'm (supposed to be) writing books.
But it's a big, fat, lie. I do read. Just not as much as I'd like to. I like long-form non fiction. Can be articles or entire books. But it's all non fiction, despite the fact that I write literary fiction, and there's a simple reason for that: I give a hoot about this world we live in, and this planet. And when you care about something, you want to understand it and thrive with/in it. To do that you've got to support and help it thrive in any way you can. (Same goes for our human relationships, too, right?)
They say, in fact, that more and more people are reading deeper, more thoughtful, non fiction, presumably as a way to understand the crazy geopolitics we're having to swim in. Count yours truly among those avid readers.
Apparently "deep reading" synchronizes your brain. Sounds like a spa for the mind!
I read mostly on my devices. Large desktop computer, and my laptop, mainly, because I'm not a tiny-screen reader. Sorry just can't do it. Also physical print magazines (love those).
And it was my desktop that introduced me to a delightful way of discovering new content.
I'm one of the last people to give up my old computer and get a new one. Not because I'm averse to technology (I'm not. I live and work in Silicon Valley.) Not because I'm lazy, or because I procrastinate, or don't want to spend the money (I'm not, I don't, and that's not the issue). I don't change my electronics until there is some triggering factor that requires me to give up a device I've loved and get a new one I'll (hopefully) love even more.
So this year I did get a new desktop, finally. What was the triggering event this time? The number of browser windows (and tabs within those windows) had surpassed my previous computer's memory capacity. Sigh.
How does that happen. Well, I work on multiple projects, all of which require various software and online systems, I do a lot of research—and I read.
It was while installing my fresh new version of Firefox that I discovered Pocket (you have to open a blank new tab, not a new window). Pocket curates news stories for you "based on what you read," which has its own pros and cons, but I have discovered countless fascinating and insightful articles this way. I've bookmarked them all. World news. Scientific discoveries. Business. Finance. Technology (here's a good one). Art. Biology. Agriculture. Chocolate, naturally. And a recent piece about an extraordinary process of reforestation going on in Nigeria that brought tears to my eyes, after so many stories of the opposite.
One of our clients is a tech firm here in the Valley. You would think university grads and other highly educated individuals would be in the know on everything happening in the U.S., if not the planet. To my shock I discovered one day, as the result of a passionate declaration on my part about how I felt about it, that several colleagues had no idea immigrant families were being separated at the border.
"It's not in the news," said one co-worker. But it was. Everywhere.
A few days later it was even more all over the news, and my colleagues became concerned. I felt I had done a tiny little part to help spread awareness, even if that probably meant nothing to those parents and children going through what many, including myself, consider criminal human rights abuses.
I'm not keen on social media; those of you who know me, know that. I'm terrible at posting on Facebook, Twitter, and wherever else you're supposed to have a 6-digit presence if you're "somebody." And I get annoyed at the incessant stream of screaming headlines from Twitter. But you know what, it's through those incessantly screaming headlines that I've picked up insights incredibly pertinent to our work. Like this one, about plastic straws paling in comparison to ghost fishing nets when it comes to plastic pollution.
It's a great big world out there. Not enough physical time to visit everywhere, talk to everyone, learn everything. But reading sure can make you come pretty close.
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