In my last post, I talked about how much I look forward to spending less time scrolling online this year and more time losing myself in between the pages of actual books. Writing it made me think about where we are heading as a society when it comes to the written word, and I won’t lie….it’s concerning.
It’s been so easy for us to slip, almost without noticing, into the world of short headlines and status updates which take nano seconds to read and even less time to move on to the next “topic”. I am guilty as charged when it comes to this, and even though there are no real excuses, it has been much easier to fit that kind of reading into my ever-crazy schedule than it has been to sit down with an actual piece of literature.
Being a part of the problem hasn’t left me blind to it though. I did read 1984 after all, and am wildly aware of how our language on social media platforms and texting has turned into it’s own version of Newspeak…but it has just been so easy to go with it rather than not. That changes now though, not only because I have my stack of books that I’ve already started jumping in to, but also because I’m kind of tired of seeing how this lack of real reading has seeped into almost every aspect of our lives and shortened our attention spans infinitesimally.
I do honestly believe that our relationship with shortened words, phrases, and 2 minute-reads has affected how we communicate in general. I see it every day in all sorts of communication from emails to social media posts and even advertisements. Everything looks to be aimed at second graders and the art of the written word with all of its flowery and powerful prose seems to be quickly becoming a thing of the past. A relic in the Smithsonian. An archeological finding we stare at in awe and confusion.
Okay….OK…..K.
I notice that people rarely even read an entire email anymore if it has more than a few sentences. Same can be said for SMS messages (and dear lord can we please stop with the 3 words, hit send, 3 more words, hit send, 4 words, hit send text messages?!….that many notifications in a row is enough to drive Pavlov’s dog to insanity!). Everything has been abbreviated and cut down into near oblivion and I can’t stand it. I also think it has deeper and darker implications.
We are creatures of stories and words. We have preserved our cultures, our histories, our legacies, our languages via storytelling for time immemorial…whether verbal or written….but what happens now? I guess it won’t matter now that we have Chat GPT and all manner of AI taking over the act of putting pen to paper, or fingers to keyboards. Should we be ok with that? I’m not so sure. How can our actual human experiences be translated and passed on by anyone other than ourselves? What happens when we have lost the ability to actual read and write our stories? What happens when those words no longer have soul? Well….we can already kind of see this in most music lyrics now, but I digress….
I know what made me a good writer was the fact that I read as much as I did growing up. I also grew up exposed to multiple languages which allowed me to compile an unusually strong vocabulary at a very young age. I devoured books in Spanish and English any chance I could and was fortunate to have an aunt and uncle that provided me with a never-ending supply of books in every genre imaginable. I cringe to think what would have happened if I had grown up during a time when books were all abbreviated (I mean, we had Cliff’s Notes, but the fear of getting caught by a teacher reading them was enough to keep me miles away from them!).
When I was bored, I turned to books and creative writing…not 15 second videos or one sentence tweets. I didn’t grow up with spell check or any number of apps and websites that could correct my work without any actual effort on my part. I read a lot, and reading made me write better. I had no idea how lucky I was.
I remember sitting in classes and dissecting poetry, the classics, Shakespeare’s plays, religious tomes, and contemporary volumes. We had to go home and continue that work after school and write long reports either by hand or typewriter…without the help of Google or YouTube to handhold us through the process with answers and interpretations. We had to use our brains.
I have no idea how we have ended up where we are now. I mean, I have an idea…but it was certainly insidious. Our attention spans are frighteningly short and books are sold as decor more often than not now. I am holding some hope thanks to the Bookstagrammers and BookTubers that are making reading fun for the younger ones again….but what about the rest of us?
I think it might be time to get a library card again or seek out a cozy local bookseller…..although so few of those seem to exist anymore. Go to Barnes & Noble if need be…and treat ourselves to some new books. Exercise the grey matter with a cascade of beautifully crafted stories….allow ourselves to be inspired and enchanted, or reminded of events of the past. Any of it and all of it.
I think we need to start writing actual letters and cards again so that the recipient has to actually read the words we’ve carefully inked…..it’s so much easier to just skim through an email. Snail mail is still relevant, powerful, and so much more intimate.
When we’re on social media we should take the time to read every word in a post before commenting (and in many cases maybe just not comment at all, to be honest, ha!). I can pretty much promise there would be a lot less anger, resentment, and triggered emotions if we always took the time to do this.
We need to choose some books we love and read before bed…make that a thing again…because research not only has shown that reading prior to bed-time leads to a better quality of sleep, but also that blue-light from our phone screens and tablets does quite the opposite.
We need to consider the fact that reading books actually helps improve cognitive function, exercises our brains, and develops our critical thinking skills (which is something too many seem to have lost!).
So….please read.
Read real books. Read all the words. Any genre is fine as long as it takes you through chapters and captivates you for more than a minute. Get lost in some pages. Put the screens down….and turn your ringers off.
Make time to stop and smell the book pages. Trust me on this one. 😉
**header photo by Chris Lawton
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