Read a what?

Have you ever thought about how wonderful literature is?  It's truly a blessing. I mean think about it, one person (or possibly a collaboration but for this purpose I will use the singular) has an idea that turns into a story that reaches people from all walks of life all over the world for years to come. It's like a peek into the writers soul when you read a story. It's a blessing to be exposed to so many great minds that I certainly won't ever on this earth meet simply by reading books. A glimpse at time past, a society left in history, a current event, or the future of technologies all accessible at the turn of a page. 

Like many I'm glued to my phone checking status updates and hashtags more minutes a day than I'd like to count. I don't have plans to stop either. I just think there should be a happy median. It's good for the brain to expand the imagination or learn something besides the normal curriculum.  Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said "The decline of literature indicates the decline of a nation."  Literature (and art and other forms of expression) stimulates the mind, stimulated minds are productive.  Just another way to view literature as a blessing. 

One more point and I'll stop. What a great escape!  Downtime is a rarity in the daily hustle and bustle. Constantly thinking about the to do list can be tiring. A little "change of brain" reading about a character that had nothing to do with my day is a mental vacation. Afterwards a chapter or two I'm usually a little more relaxed.  That is most definitely a blessing!

Well, now I'm off to King Solomon's Mines!

"Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become."

C. S. Lewis