Reading, lazy?

I find it interesting that this turned into such a lazy day.  My son, who is an avid reader anyway, chose to read all day, and I must say that I have done much of the same.  Funny thing is, though, that reading isn't actually the lazy thing to do.

Why do we call it a lazy day when we do nothing but read all day?  I understand the concept of not getting house work or yard work or any other kind of "work" done, but this does not define us as lazy.  Reading actively engages our minds as we paint a picture, often vivid, of what is being described in the book.  The brain is a muscle and when we read, we are exercising said muscle and keeping it sharp, as well as teaching it to focus.  Not to mention that we are engaging both hemispheres of our brain.  How many activities do that?

Not only does this engage our brain on a physical level, but the act of reading, even for pleasure, engages our mental capacity.  We are often exposed to different literary styles, new words, idioms, phrases, and learn how they can be used in different ways.  In fact, my son and I keep a dictionary handy where we read so that if we run across a word we don't know, or haven't heard or read before, we can look it up at the end of the chapter, rather than forgetting about it by the end of the book.

By continuing to read (on lazy days, etc...) and read often we are expanding our knowledge database by leaps and bounds!  If you do the research, you will find that the most successful people in this world are most often the most well read...  According to Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of Israel,
"Your best friends are not only people, but books.  To read books is like going to swim in a sea of wisdom, endlessly fascinating.  And there are so many wise people all over the world, throughout history, and you can have it free, for nothing.  And reading must become a daily habit.  It's not that you can read once a week.  I read day in and day out, and you make acquaintances with books.  After a few pages, you know with whom you are reading.  Serious, unserious, far-sighted, repetitive."


Ok, so we have established many positives, now, about taking some time to "be lazy" and read.  The best part, in my humble opinion, is the creativity that is sparked by reading tenaciously.  Or even just by reading on a regular basis.  Creativity requires one to be knowledgeable in more than one area, oftentimes in several areas.  How does one acquire this knowledge?  By reading of course!  Just reading for pleasure is amazing.  You may not know what you will use this knowledge you are gaining for now, but the dots will all connect later.  You will be able to use what was read at some point in the future, it never fails.  No matter what area of life you choose to excel in, it will never hurt to be "lazy" and read.

I suppose that you all know what my conclusion is.  I hereby conclude that taking a "lazy day" to do nothing but read every now and again is not a bad thing, in fact, I think I might just recommend it.  Especially for those of you who might be overly stressed or medically having difficulties, I forgot to mention that reading can also be an extremely healthy form of escapism from time to time.

I hope this finds you all well!

And now for my daily photo and haiku...

Words on printed page

Imaginative beauty

A way of escape