Santorine – ‘Insufficiently Read’ Is Far Too Frequent

Ever have one of those epiphany moments when you realize something completely profound about yourself?

That “Ah-HA!” moment that is not the element of surprise, but the instant where you add a level of self realization that provides a high level of personal satisfaction?

I’ve always been a voracious reader. My Mom still thinks I ruined my eyesight reading “Tom Swift” novels by the night light when I was in elementary school. Not enough time in the day to get in the sports that Dad required, the piano lessons that Mom expected, dinner, homework and raising cane with the guys in the neighborhood. So I extended my day by laying on the floor next to my bed, with the blanket hiding the night light, reading until I fell asleep.

For the past thirty years or so, my practice has been to have two books “going,” one for my personal enjoyment (science fiction is a favorite), and another that is work related (technical or managerial). More than that and “confusement’ (that’s a Dolphism – a combination of confusion and befuddlement) will set in and I’ll miss the point of everything I’m reading.

This has worked out well for me. I mean, after all, there is only so much time you can spend in the reading room on that uniquely uncomfortable vitreous china seat, so the disciplined among us make time to read. I was and am still nearly religious about it.

I’ve also preached the advantages of reading to those less experienced. I was talking about things entrepreneurial to a room full of about 50 high-performing university students and I asked them what they were reading for their chosen profession.

Their silence made them uncomfortable. I was shocked.

I followed that by asking what they were reading for fun.

One hand shot up. ONE of 50. It made the entire room fidget.

Their response was completely foreign to me.

How many subscribed to a newspaper? None.

How many business majors? About half the room. Subscriptions to the Wall Street Journal? Not a one.

How about the free campus newspaper? Two.

In their defense, they did say they check out the college newspaper online, but when I probed a little further, only a tiny percentage could remember the last thing they read, and if it changed their mind.

I don’t think I need to state that this does not bode well for the upcoming generation.

I’m the guy who, when our children were young, could only get one copy of the Harry Potter books when they were first coming out, and my solution was to cut the bindings in thirds.

Eldest daughter would read the first third, and pass it to the the next daughter and so forth. I wish I could have found three copies to buy, but I was lucky enough to get a single early copy.

That’s how much I value reading.

My reading time has been under attack for the past 20 years, and has been fighting an all out war for the last 10.

The protagonist is online and the smartphone. I see reading “on paper,” an “e-Book reader” or online as the same thing, and it many ways it is. There’s a need for a time-suck called social media, and it does not come close to replacing (or augmenting) reading. It’s a plethora of poorly written, misspelled snippets of thoughts. It’s the literary equivalent of gruel, and about as filling.

So, what does this have to do with this column? We write like we read. We spell like we read. Reading effects how we make decisions, and how we process information.

It effects everything we do, intellectual and manual.

This summer, I’m going to lay some brick. I’ve never done it before, but I’m going to read up on it.

I don’t have time for the YouTube videos, and I can consume the information I need much more quickly reading.

It will be a decidedly “DYI” project. But it will be good enough, and I’ll have enjoyed another new experience.

The best pipe fitter I know is well read. So is the best HVAC tech. The best mechanic has serious computer chops, and those come from reading.  That goes double for the best appliance salesman. It’s the same for the attorneys, accountants and damn near everyone.

Being well read makes you the most interesting person in the room. It’s an instant basis for conversation. It makes the words you string together at a keyboard or with your favorite pen that much more enjoyable.

It is more than that important.

I’m questioning if I’m reading enough. I can, and will do better.

Because I write like I read; I will read more quality works, which will allow my writing to be that much better. I owe you that.