Day 34 – Insert enjoyable thing here

Is there anything you get so much enjoyment from that you can’t help but encourage others to participate? There are several things/experiences that I enjoy so much that I can’t help but talk about them, but that’s not quite what I’m talking about. I’m talking about the difference between “This is such a great [insert enjoyable thing here]; you really should try it,” and, “This [insert enjoyable thing here] is amazing; you MUST try it.” See the difference?

I love getting pedicures. They can be pricey and I know not everyone likes having other people touch their feet. However, if you’ve never had one, you cannot know what it is that you’re missing. In his late seventies, my dad who has just started getting pedicures would agree. However, I don’t go around telling others that they really need to have a pedicure. I love going to the chiropractor. In the short-term, the adjustment gives me a little rush and relieves aches and pains. In the long-term, I have greater mobility and it allows me to be more active in general. However, I rarely mention chiropractic care, unless someone mentions their joint or back pain. I could recommend other things that I love: yoga, places I’ve traveled to, certain restaurants and experiences, but I’d never push any of it on others.

There is one activity that I love so much, I can’t help but encourage everyone else to engage in it as well. If you’ve been reading my blog, or even if we’re Facebook friends and this is the first of my blog posts you’ve read, it won’t come as any surprise to you that I’m talking about reading. If you’ve read this far, you can read, but are you a reader? There’s a big difference. For instance, I can ride a bike, but I’m certainly not a cyclist. Most people read to get information, but readers read more and more often because they enjoy the experience. It is much more than functional; it’s pleasurable. Our desire for the printed text is insatiable; the more time I spend reading, the more I want to read. To say that the list of books I’d like to read is ambitious is a huge understatement. Readers can generally tell you what they plan to read next.

Poeple who don’t regularly read for pleasure are missing out! However, it’s difficult to convince them that reading can be as or more enjoyable than how they’re currently using their discretionary time. If it’s so enjoyable, why is it hard to get people to do it? The problem is that reading is a slower way to ingest a story. Who wants slower? Why walk when driving is faster? Why write when typing is faster? Why paint the fence with a brush when a sprayer can cut that time in half? We often choose the faster route to any outcome. However, when the experience is more important that completing the task, we generally choose the slower route. We want vacation to slow down. We want sex to last longer. We savour fine food. If we only ever read for function, of course we want to get it over with. It’s a chore. However, when we allow ourselves to enjoy the experience, we like that it takes longer.

I believe that everyone is a reader, but some people just don’t and may never realize it. In order for someone to become a reader, they have to connect with THAT one book, the book that does it for them, and there’s one for everyone. THAT book is so interesting that they don’t want to put it down. Some people might think that there isn’t a book that they wouldn’t want to put down. Don’t believe it! Once they find the first one, it gets easier to find others. Most people don’t find THAT book on their own. Most bibliophiles, like myself, are happy to help them find it and if they get close to a bibliophile, they usually don’t even have to ask. The love I have for books makes it impossible not to promote reading.