I have always been a strong supporter of reading daily. It is amazing to see the ways that effects a life. I feel that a large amount of my success so far in life can be attributed to this habit. Reading daily changes the way that you think and perceive life. I have never had to chose between killing or being killed, and I haven't ever needed to diffuse a tense courtroom during a landmark trial. But through reading these ideas have been played out in my mind. When you read you can experience some if these emotions that probably won't have in the normal course in your life, but you know how you think about them.But what value could come from writing daily? When I read it feels like my mind fills up with a swirling mass of thoughts and emotion. Those swirling motions start to condense and I begin to formulate ideas and generate opinions. Then they sit in my mind clogging my brain like the basket of laundry that is sitting on my stairs at home, leading me to think to myself every time I walk past them "I should really take care of these." Writing gets these thoughts off my back. When I finally put these ideas on paper (or the web) I can finally rest. It is the medicine for my clouded mind. That is why I keep a journal and now strive to post daily. Writing is what translates reading into success.
I'm in a creative writing class right now, and one of the requirements is that five times a week we do something called morning pages. That is, as soon as possible after waking up, we write three notebook pages of stream of consciousness. Morning pages serve so many purposes, some of which are certainly what you mentioned in this post. As readers, it is natural to want to create something of our own, and a little bit of free writing every day actually produces some beautiful material.
ReplyDeleteThis is interesting. My Dad always reads before he goes to bed at night, and I never really thought anything of it. Recently I've come to realize the power of doing that, and this furthers the thoughts and ideas I've had. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteUntil the past year (when I got off work at 9pm), I used to read every night before going to bed. While reading, I would think about different ideas about the world and ideas on how to create something myself. Reading focuses your mind and allows your thoughts to come through more clearly. Recently, I have been able to start this ritual again, and my mind has gladly welcomed my books back into my life.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the things that really excites me about this class, the chance to form a habit of writing daily, something I've been wanting to do for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI worry about people reading less in the digital age, or in more fragmented or superficial ways. But I am less worried about people writing less in the digital age. Sure, lots of that writing can be superficial, but the web (Web 2.0, anyway) calls for constant participation. A blog is a great way of doing daily writing. I really thrived on this when I was doing a sonnet a day on Open Source Sonnets.
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