Less People are Reading-And That is Dangerous

A typical scenario which I often encounter

Person: Oh hey, have you seen the new film _______ (insert film here)

Me: Ummm…no, but I’ve read the book and it was definitely awesome

Person (scrunches up nose): But how can you read the book, when you can watch the film? Reading is so boring. 

This scenario is becoming more frequent as the time passes, a matter which people simply acknowledge than walk away from but (being a book-lover), I am skeptical to the fact that people not reading as a mere case of them finding it to be ‘boring’, but rather believe it’s a window to reveal what’s occurring in modern day society. It’s includible to admit that we are in an era in which mankind is growing more and more impatient. Young and old, people are now desiring to acquire more faster because it’s now possible, the ideology of ‘instant gratification’ is becoming increasingly appealing in this fast-paced society.

Reading doesn’t concede you instant gratification, it’s an activity which will obligate for you to have patience in various mannerisms. You must withheld patience to comprehend the plot, patience to get to know the character, their most intimate thoughts and feelings, to comprehend the reasons’s why a certain character acted in a certain form. The farther you’ll delve into it, the more you’ll apprehend nevertheless this will certainly take time. It’s imperative that we stop preoccupying of all that’s going on around us, to completely absorb the words on the pages, so we can bring them to life. We can interconnect the idea of reading with a tree growing. From the minute you plant that small seed t won’t automatically burst into the splending, majestic tree it is meant to be, it’ll take time. You’ll be obliged to nurture and care for it, watering it, speaking to it ; until it becomes what it was destine to be from the day you planted that insifignantly small seed. In other words , reading is like building a relationship.

But modern day society can’t afford to build relationships. Nowadays, we are all yearning to live the fast life, ‘fast money’, ‘fast food’, ‘fast love. It’s as if we are becoming evolving to transform into the most restless beings possible, but this ‘fast life’ doesn’t come without a price. Just like what Friar Lawrence said in Romeo and Juliet “…they stumble that run fast”, just like the instant gratification comes, it equally leaves as hastily. Divorce rates have never been as disturbingly high as now, because sadly marriages are represented as something which can be disposed of easily by the media. The rates of various health problems is increasing, due to the food which we consume, the planet is suffering from the corrupt society which we live in. And once we forget about the true principles which maintain us happy, we are voluntarily leading ourselves towards destruction.

It’s about time we let go of so many things, and rather focus on what matter’s most in life, to look inside ourselves and acknowledge what is good but what needs improvement. It’ll take time but if everyone did this, the world would certainly be a better place.

And I’m not saying that reading will resolve all of society’s problems, but the lack of it indeed reflects towards the chaos we are turning to.