The Reading Cure

I found the article I have mentioned a few times, that was in the UK Saturday Guardian a couple of weeks ago, called The Reading Cure. I found it absolutely beautiful, well written and facinating. It's long, but well worth reading (!) all of it.

For me the article is such an inspiration for what we all are doing here, sharing our stories; for the particular focus of the Diving Deeper method.

As anyone who has read my Notes Along the Way, I believe writing can have a deeply healing effect. I knew, of course, from personal experience how much reading other people's stories, poems and fiction has supported me personally, but some of the examples given in the article are extraordinary, for example:

Medical staff tell stories of the remarkable successes they've seen: the neurological patient who sat in a group saying nothing for months, then after a reading of George Herbert's poem “The Flower” (“Who would have thought my shrivelled heart/Could have recovered greenness?”) launched into a 10-minute monologue at the end of which he announced “I feel great”; the brain-damaged young man whose vocabulary significantly increased after he joined a book group…

Re: The Reading Cure

Thanks for bringing this topic to the Pod Sandra.  I think it is extremely relevant to this group and Gaia!

I couldn't agree more with this article, especially the idea of the arts being healing.  Writing isn't just a catharsis for the writer but the reader as well. 
The quotes “ 

“Reading pushes the pain away into a place where it no longer seems important. No matter how ill you are, there's a world inside books which you can enter and explore, and where you focus on something other than your own problems.”
and
“Plato said that the muses gave us the arts not for “mindless pleasure” but “as an aid to bringing our soul-circuit, when it has got out of tune, into order and harmony with itself.”

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Just a delight to read you, Mame. You quoted the two other pieces from the article I was thinking of quoting!

Children incapable of movement, speech impaired, hearing impaired, blind, down syndrome kids all take the stage and in their way share a story with the audience.  In that 45 minutes everyone in that chamber forgets who has and who hasn't and are made better for the experience.  Laughter and tears mix together for a very heady healing brew.

Touches me deeply to hear this.

Yes for me too, reading has been an incredible force in my life. I'm so grateful that when I was young in South Africa ( where I lived until age 7), there was no TV and it was never a big thing after that either. Instead I read.. and read.. and read. I still mostly read novels… I find like you that I learn so much from them. I get my beloved to tell me if there is anything else I need to know!!

He's just saying it's time to have supper.. so.. more soon on this wonderful subject.

Sandra

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Yes, yes, & yes.  I just cannot imagine what life would be like without books.  I can still remember the first time I checked out a book from the ilbrary at age 4.  It was magic.  And it still is.  I have a huge book bag and everytime I go to the library I get so excited.  I can't wait to get home and pull out my treasures so I usually pop one of the books on tape that I borrowed into the C.D. player!

Some of the talk about “the cure” made me think about the year I spent in therapy.  I had a really wonderful therapist named Aina.  Looking back, I've often found myself analysing her methods of therapy.  She gave me homework that usually consisted of reading some pretty intense fiction (all on the subject I was in therapy for).  Good lord, I was a terrible mess all the time reading those books.  I've often thought that it might have been overkill on her part.  On the other hand, I gained so much insight and was finally able to face my true feelings of rage.  I had suppressed them for so long that I didn't even know I had them.  After getting through that, I was able to move through the grief process rather than staying stuck. 

As for my daily life, I know that I use reading for an escape.  I think that I might overuse it.  That said, I have no intention of ever changing this addiction.  It has served me well. Reading, next to family of course, is my greatest love.  Thank You God for libraries or I would be bankrupt.

Ayla

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:-) Ayla!

I also realised that I wanted to bring attention to the value we get here from reading.. I know I sometimes feel it's a 'job' to read and comment, but when I let that go and simply read for enjoyment, not placing pressure on myself to comment, I get so much from the writing here. I also have had messages from people saying how much they like to come here to read, they don't post or contribute but they take pleasure in the 'creative' writing here.

Because of this, I wanted to keep reminding us to 'seed' things we like, I'm realising that I often forget, and just comment instead. I know I'm going back on my original suggestions on this, but I believe in what we do here, and want everyone to have a chance to 'find' us easily, and either just read or join in.

I sometimes think I use books to escape, but since I've focused on my own writing, I dont' feel this so much.. I guess I've managed to persuade myself that I'm totally allowed to read fiction because it helps my 'work'!! And yes, sometimes I'm aware that I'm 'checking out' when I get stuck into a novel. And good lord, I can think of so many other ways I could 'check out' that are unhealthy or unloving etc etc….!

I love books/stories that I 'learn' from as well as escape into. Good historical fiction for example.. or lives of people which are so different from mine, other cultures, other points of view…. what a blessing.

Sandra

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Reading rules. And that's that. At least for this embodied soul. I love that you mentioned reading the work here on Gaia (well, that's the first time I've said that….Zaadz we hardly knew ya. From seeds to a planet, O how we've grown.) Sandra. More specifically the work in DD. Number one, I love reading about writing. Number two, I gain great inspiration from reading about spirituality. Number three, equals yay! And to see into others' writing growing pains helps me with my own. Shared suffering is more cozy. Yummy writer's misery. Not to mention all the beauty that grows in my soul like a giant planet (darn, gonna miss the seed metaphors).

As far as reading in general, I'm a novel hound greatly beholdin to Dr. Seuss for a love of the sound of words. My greatest influence in my writing has to be the immortal Doctor. Sound is wound into the peep and all the mysteries unleap.

I do have an old reading injury now that keeps me from reading like I used to. No longer can I sit back in a recliner with a book in my lap. Ten bajillion hours of doing that made it so I can't do it anymore. Not to worry, though, I'll read some more in my next life, at least if I'm not born as a bug or something.

As far as story goes, it's my second favorite thing, after character.

And why do I love revenge stories so much? I must be like you, Ayla, have some buried rage or something. Because I sure love it when somebody gets back at somebody (in stories). Especially in a just cause, which by coincidence all my repressed and suppressed motives happen to be.

Ain't words grand?

Dun dun dun dun dun dun dun dun….(etc. & etc.) reader love (sung to the sound of Radar Love),

Tom

…..da da da that forgotton song….wah uh wah uh uh!!! Reader love, comin' on strong! Ohhhhhh…..reader love.

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Yes to Dr. Seuss, Tom. There's a book that he wrote, and it's not that popular, but there is a rhyming list in it, and when I would read it for my first graders, I would read faster and faster till I couldn't believe the nonsensical words were coming out of my mouth at wharp speed.

Then the kids would, of course, cry, “Again, again, again.” They were experiencing the wonder of the printed word.

Yes to reading. Writing is wonderful, but reading is even more. It is the opportunity to step into someone elses' world with one foot or both. You can learn from it, be touched by it, or forever changed by it. When I like something I've read here on Diving Deeper, I sometimes think of something I'ver read, and I mention it. Why not share?

When I was diagnosed with this dread, potentially fatal disease, I wasn't sure what to do. At first, I began to use my creativity. It helped. Then, I started to read. I read about my illness, other illnesses, things I liked, things I didn't even know existed. I read, I wrote, I drew, I cooked and I sang, and I got better. Reading connected me to all these things I loved to do. I hope it always stays that way - that I stay well, and that I go on reading.

Andrea

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Tom:-)
Andrea :-)
You've reminded me of how much I love to read aloud. I never used to, I always felt clunky and awkward, but since I started giving workshops and reading the work of the participants out loud, I've fallen in love with it. Tom, I wish I could read to you, I can't bear the thought of you not being able to read. (And the funny thing is I don't like being read to that much - it seems I don't take things in 'aurally' that well).
Andrea, yes to healing through reading, dancing, singing, cooking, writing…..
Love and appreciation…
Sandra

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Sandra,

Thank you for posting this article.  And all for the marvelous discussion!  I am currently in the middle of a reading cure of sorts.  I notice that when I experience any sort of transition in my life, a pile of books seems to sprout up spontaneously on my night stand.  Almost always they are novels.  (Current list:  “Missing Mom” - Joyce Carol Oates; “Water for Elephants” - Sara Gruen; and “Special Topics in Calamity Physics” - Marisha Pessl.)  Like Mame, I am always amazing friends and relations with my knowledge of seemingly random things.  Not to mention my vocabulary.  I owe it all to books.  I remember in grade school, Scholastic (or some other book-ordering service) would send around their catalogues periodically.  I used to win the prize for most books ordered, and then for most books read.  What bliss to come home with an entirely new stack of worlds, just waiting to invite me in.  (As a shy child, I rarely felt invited by people.)  It's affirming to know that, rather than procrastinating or escaping, I'm actually renewing and healing when I go on one of my 'tears'.  I will be more gentle with myself from now on and just endulge and enjoy (without the guilt).

Warmly,
Jody

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Jody, you made me laugh, Yes most of my 'knowledge' comes from novels…. (and a brief and strange period of studying classics at university).

I'm realising that the periods that I'm not reading much are actually an indication to me that all is not that well.

Like now for example, I'm reading David Mitchell's first novel, Ghostwritten and also digging into an anthology of Canadian short-stories, but for some reason it's a chore, not my usual delight and sinking into a good read. It's not really about what I'm reading (although I think Cloud Atlas a far better work than Ghostwritten), but about a distracted state I'm in these days.

And perhaps I need a 'good read', you know, something totally escapist and easy to consume. Sometimes this is the best 'reading remedy' for me.. a Stephen King, that kind of thing!

Love,
Sandra

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Hi Sandra,

There's always a flip-side, isn't there.  But I understand what you're talking about, too.  I have times when I long for a novel to sink into and I just can't seem to find it.  Where everything I pick up seems like a bit of a chore (if not a bore).  I hadn't thought of that as an indicator of inner unbalance.  It makes perfect sense.  Thank you for a new insight.

Warmly,
Jody

P.S.  Yes, a 'good read' can cure me, too.  I go more for children's fantasy, though (yes, I admit, I'm a Harry Potter fan…). 

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Thank you Sandra for guiding me to this article.
“More ambitiously, they're an experiment in healing, or, to put it less grandiosely, an attempt to see whether reading can alleviate pain or mental distress.”
The reason why most of my fiction is so dark is because I feel it can be used as a healing tool to any reader who may be experiencing similar things. I gravitate to what draws a emotional response from me, and I write about it, eventhough I have no first hand experience about such acts. I imagine the ugly that is actually happening in ways I can't imagine. My writing comes from a emotional place to only hope to cause a emotional response. Its all a healing process and words can touch many souls in various ways.

Love and Peace
Panya

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oh, this is beautifully put, Panya. I couldn't agree with you more.