Why read?
Want to be happier? Pick up a novel.
No one has ever needed to convince me to read.
While other kids listed “lunch” or “recess” as their favorite school subjects, every day I counted down until D.E.A.R. time, when my whole class was instructed to Drop Everything And Read. I snuck books into family celebrations at restaurants so I could read while we waited for our food. The Scholastic Book Fair was my Super Bowl.
So when I found myself in front of a classroom filled with teenagers looking at their literature syllabi with the same skepticism as a child might look at a plate full of brussels sprouts, I realized two things. First, shockingly, not everyone loves to read. Second, I needed a sales pitch if I was going to hold anyone’s attention beyond the first class period.
Like a mom cooking brussels sprouts, I instinctively knew books were good for you, but how good? Because I’m a millennial, I took my question to Google.
“Why read?” I typed into the search bar. After scrolling, skimming, watching a few TED talks, and scrolling some more, I came across this 2012 article by Annie Murphy Paul in The New York Times.
It’s well-written, short, and filled with objective, scientific facts about what happens to your brain when you get lost in a novel. In other words, it’s a perfect activity for the first day of school.
We read it out loud in class and then share lines from the article that stood out to us. Every year, I marvel alongside my students as we discover that your brain reacts to a vivid description in the same way it reacts to actually experiencing the smell, taste, or action described. (Maybe that’s why it can be so hard to leave a well-crafted fictional world.) I am in awe of how reading serves us like computer simulations, giving us the opportunity to practice social interactions in a low-stakes environment. (Maybe that’s why beloved characters often feel like friends—and why it can be so hard to say goodbye to them when their stories come to a close.)
This article has helped me to put into words something that I have always loved about reading but could never actually articulate: reading a novel gives you the totally unique experience of getting inside someone else’s head.
Think about it: there is literally no other possible way to know what someone else is thinking or feeling, unless they tell you, “This is what I’m thinking or feeling.” Or unless you are guided through their hopes, fears, and choices by a reliable omniscient narrator.
As Annie Murphy Paul explains, reading increases our theory of mind, or our ability to understand what other people are thinking or feeling. In other words, reading strengthens our ability to empathize with others. And not just with fictional characters—the increase in empathy we earn by reading fiction translates to our real lives and can impact our real relationships for the better.
This is why I think reading can make us happier. It's not about escaping the stresses of our daily lives for a few hours or learning new information, it's about gaining a skill that has a real-life application. Empathetic people tend to have deeper, happier relationships. And deep connections with other human beings is a hallmark of a happy, healthy, and fulfilled life.
It's not just teenagers who want happy, healthy, fulfilled lives. We all seek that which will settle the restlessness in our hearts. When we empathize with others, practicing compassion, acting out of love, and really seeing and hearing our loved ones, we take one step closer to the kingdom where we will finally be satisfied.
So, when a student asks me, "Will I ever need to know this in real life?" in the middle of The Scarlet Letter or Hamlet, I think back to the first day of school and say, "Yes. Definitely yes."
What I've been reading and writing lately:
Join me over on Instagram to see what I read in January, and share what you've been reading, too!
I wrote this reflection on the readings for the 4th Sunday in Ordinary Time, including the Beatitudes, for Wisdom's Dwelling.
I contributed a short reflection on healing to Live Today Well’s VOICES magazine. Click here to sign up to receive the free monthly e-zine in the future!
Coming up…
Next month, I’ll be writing about J.R.R. Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy Stories” and one of the most influential books from my childhood (hint: it’s a retelling of a classic fairy tale). Be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss it.
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