How I Got Back Into Reading
You’ve probably had an experience where you once thought, “Oh, this is what I’d like to do forever.” You may be pertaining to creating your first painting or joining a dance group. It could be that time you got inspired from binge-watching a medical show or when you tutored a group of younger students. It’s either a realization of what you want to do as your career or it’s a discovery of your interests. There’s always a tiny bit of excitement because you think it will be a constant in your life. You won’t get tired of it, you won’t lose interest in it, and it will seem as easy as breathing. As it may sound, that’s what I thought about reading when I was younger.
Reading Was My Escape
It was story after story that my classmates and relatives started gifting books every Christmas. Books were worlds to escape to and I fell in love with reading. I thought that I would never have any trouble with it. That was until I got a little older and there were just too many academic readings to be done and to write a paper on. Schoolworks can be draining. I used to think that when I get some free time, I’ll read to relax.
I didn’t notice it at first but it became difficult to pick up a book and read past the first page. It was easier to get distracted and to find something else short and quick to do. That’s what I did for a while but there was always a little bit of sadness when I passed by bookstores. Those were my favorite places but I knew I wouldn’t be able to pick something from there and finish reading it.
How I Got Back Into Reading
However, that doesn’t mean I didn’t try to get back into reading. Eventually, you do get tired of complaining in your head. I started looking for stories online which aren’t really hard to find. There are various platforms and fandoms to sift through. Even though I would put my phone down in the middle of reading to do something else, I still tried to finish the stories. It progressed.
Then, it just so happened that I got interested in watching films that had the theme of academia in them. I suddenly thought of this book series that I read before and the pull was just too apparent that I couldn’t let it pass. I took the first book off the shelf and tried to read it. To my surprise, it was easy to get past the first chapter and then halfway. It was probably because of how familiar the book was since I already read it before. It was probably because I was too engrossed in consuming anything that had the academia theme. Whatever it was, I was starting to reread the books on my shelf, one after another.
There were also the book recommendation videos. Booktube was helpful because they dove into the books enough to pique your interest. You start thinking, “I’d like to read that.” and then search for a secondhand copy of the book or even an eBook version of it. So far, from all the videos I’ve watched, I’ve searched for four books and finished two of them.
There really is no grand remedy to rediscovering your love for things. Sometimes, you just try to engage with them. It either works or it doesn’t for the time being. Sometimes, you just find your way to it by looking back on them and remembering how they made you feel.
