I grew up in the world, where reading was a kind of standard and books a kind of treasure. We even had to take care of school books, teachers carefully checked their condition at the end of the school year. At that time there was a shortage of many goods, but every small town used to have a public library.
I loved books before I could read them and I remember the heavy bags I regularly carried home from the library. The books and the stories inside were the food I was starving for. I consumed almost everything without prejudice. I often read between the lines and put my own imagination into the written stories, so I used to have different feelings from my classmates who read the same book. And we talked about it! So I became an adult with the belief that reading books is like breathing, everyone does it.
Since then I’ve met a lot of people, even very intelligent ones, who just don’t like to read. It was before the digital boom and much more after. To be honest, it took me a while to accept it and stop judging people by whether they read books or not. And to be double honest, I had to go through the period of prioritizing my career over reading to come to such understanding.
Once I slowed down after 40, I went back to the books. I still read between the lines and often deal with the psychology of the characters more than the story. I love the visions that are born in my head while reading, they are a great source of further inspiration.
Obviously my confession is a little old school, but it fits. How about your attitude to books? There are tons of them and to my surprise even books with major grammatical errors are published! No wonder that books lose their cultural value and become consumer goods and then waste. I am so sorry for it.
With love and hugs,
Ivana
vikaherbs 