“What is truth?” said jesting Pilate, and would not stay for an answer.
Looking back at the era of Ancient Greece, we can notice how almost every bard attempted to portray bravery and courage by any means, placing the hero on the most difficult quests, most of the time also being forced to overcome astral punishments carried out by the Gods. The mythology itself is nothing more than a symposium of emotions knitted in such a way that society could relate to what, in their minds, lay beyond the sky but also deep within themselves.
In those times, bravery and courage were the emotions one needed to strive for first and foremost, love and friendship being considered as consequences of the first two.
After thousands of years, we have continued to perfect our delivery, our ways of conceptualizing what it means to be human, what it means to live the human experience. Many have benefited as a result. Many saw in those attempts their reflections, their faults, and misdoings, their virtues, and hopes being carried out to the utmost. Fearless, thoughtful, calculated, this is how we see ourselves when we read great literature. This is how we imagine our interior to be. This is what we hope we project outside of us. The utility of this art form is not one to be questioned.
The greatest gift we receive when reading is empathy.
Empathy, like other conscious emotions, requires constant training, it requires different scenarios, different portrayals of right and wrong, good and evil, bravery and cowardice. Placing your mind, your idea of what your personality is, into a story morphs you into an entity that moves in and out of each character. With every shift of perspective, your soul undergoes huge amounts of welding and bending. All of the shapes you end up going through, by the time you finish the story, will make you come out the other end as a changed person.
Of course, if a story is good enough and many people vow their transformations to that story then why bother repeating what was already been said? Why not try to reread and perform the story in your head better than last time? The truth is no one can tell when the bottom of the well has been reached when the most beautiful page was written when the most truthful lines of dialogue have been said. Our own personas have yet to be explored and exposed in their entirety, so we have to try and live them out on paper to the most of our capabilities.
Among the best examples of great literature is Notes from the Underground by Fyodor Dostoievsky. In here we can see the soul of a man sentenced by his own consciousness to sit down and write about himself in the most truthful way that he can. In the first part of the novel, we get a very grim portrait when the narrator realizes his answeres were the results of his own actions, and every time he tries to frame others for his misfortunes it backfires in the form of spite and disgust for himself. Ignoring one’s demons for too long is the best lesson to extract from Dostoievsky’s masterpiece.
Opposed to that, when the author forgets the reader, we have uncharted emotional territory still to be engaged with. We are left with bland expressions worded carefully but not powerful enough to evoke our core beliefs. The scenes are crafted only to show detail and magnify descriptions of things, of the material, and not enough to ponder upon. I encourage you to avoid this trap of enchantment and only read works that can help you better yourself. Many avoid reading because, deep down, they fear investing their energy and time into something that won’t turn them into a greater version of themselves, and they are right to do so!
The incredible collection of stories we have collected through the ages is marvelous, it would be such a shame not to, at least, be curious about it. Ignoring it completely can be detrimental in the sense that the opportunities we lose are not something we can afford. With attention spans getting narrower and narrower, reading is becoming more of a brain’s version of cardio and resistance training. Making it a habit, a habit of exploring one’s own inner world can stave off any impulse of judging others or being too harsh in situations uncalled for.
So yes, reading makes you a better person.
If hundred-page long novels aren’t your thing then aphorisms are your go-to option. Many authors, such as Nietzsche, strived to express the most emotion through a condensed form of expression, thus making aphorisms their specialty. Collections of aphorisms are usually put together by people trained in the field and designed not to waste your time. When you pick up a collection of aphorisms by, let’s say, Voltaire then you know you are getting your money’s worth in terms of quality and knowledge. Reading just 30 minutes every morning can help you start the day with a fresh and positive outlook.
Literacy is a gift, USE IT!
