A book is the means of transport that can take us to more destinations and that we least value, is an opportunity to meet other people, know other visions and visit other worlds, one of the best gifts for those who know how to appreciate it and the best companion in any circumstance.
Reading is the door to endless possibilities: magical universes, stories of the past and futuristic visions, it is the key that opens the lock of uncertainty, the inspiration that sometimes hits us hard and a powerful reminder of emotions that reminds us, page by page, that we are alive.
- Diving in an ocean of letters is an experience that rarely leaves us indifferent.
- A book moves us.
- Surprises us.
- Makes us think and.
- From time to time.
- Changes our lives.
“Books are the quietest and most constant friends; Are they the most accessible counselors and the most patient teachers?. – Charles William Eliot-
A book nourishes us, challenges us, offers us other perspectives, reading enriches us especially if we turn all the senses around, because it is not the same to read, fast and by the way, to connect with what the author has captured on each page.
Enter the minds of the characters, imagine the context in which each detail unfolds, recreate the conversations with a certain liveliness or simply delve deeper into the theory or concept that you want to convey to us? True reading involves that and more.
Reading is creating, imagining, understanding, showing empathy, but above all building, it is a dialectical process between the author and the reader, a conversation in which one gives, the other receives and the second from there. becomes the book’s director.
As psychologists Paul Watzlawick and Marcelo Ceberius claim in their book The Construction of the Universe, the resulting reading and reflections are structured as a process of co-construction between the author and the reader. A whole work of art that the two participants know each other from. to build the product together, which is just a message with values.
“To travel far, there is no better boat than a book. “- Emily Dickinson-
Reading is a pleasure, an open door to learning, that can lead us to exciting scenarios and that seduces, enriches and nourishes our brain, in fact, reading strengthens mental processes, such as memory, reasoning and perception, and also has the power to “open the eyes”.
The psychologist Ignacio Morgado, director of the Institute of Neurosciences of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, says that certain areas of the brain are activated when we read. For example, the occipital and temporal cortex to recognize the meaning of words; the hippocampus and the temporal lobe when, when interpreting the reading, the memories reach the mind, and the amygdala and other emotional areas when reading sentimental texts, whether they have to do with reality or, on the contrary, they are fiction. On the other hand, the prefrontal cortex and working memory are activated when you try to reason about what you are reading.
In addition, according to a Study by the University of Toronto published in trends in Cognitive Science, fictional reading increases empathy and certain skills, as this type of genre causes a simulation of different social worlds in the reader’s mind, implying a better understanding of experience and relationships.
It’s not just that. Reading also significantly reduces stress, whether it occurs between half an hour or an hour before bedtime, according to a Sleep Council study. In addition, reading is an activity that defevers the minds of the pressures and worries of daily life, as it offers a safe haven to feel free and comfortable.
Another advantage that we can take from reading is a better vocabulary, especially if we would go to literary genres, because connections are established between the words that are used orally and those that we read, enriching our lexical flow and indirectly improving our spelling.
Nor can we forget the influence that reading can have on our creativity, imagination and emotional sphere. There are many benefits that we can derive from reading, in addition to fun and entertainment.
A book is a silent companion with which a bond is built at any given time, and like any connection, it transforms us in one way or another. Reading gives us refuge, transports us to other worlds and expands our minds. Gandhi said if he didn’t read, nothing would happen, but if he did, a lot would happen. Because reading is continuous learning and the trampoline that pushes us to discover other visions.