Reading is one of my favorite things to do, but I love to do it slowly. It is the thing that I look forward to doing everyday once I get home. To finally sit down for the night after supper and my bath, coffee or matcha beside me, candle lit, and whatever I am reading at the moment. Sometimes it’s a book, sometimes a magazine or blog post from one of my favorite bloggers, or a Substack. Either way, I’m settled in for the night and reading something, and slowly savoring it.
Being a slow reader is by choice, and how I prefer to read. I don’t struggle with words or naturally read slow, but I am always afraid I am going to miss something or miss learning something by reading too fast. Reading slow allows me to savor and fully embrace and understand what I am reading. When I do find myself reading fast, my mind tends to drift to other things, and I find myself having read a whole page(and sometimes even a whole chapter), that I don’t even remember what I just read. That is because I was mindlessly reading, like how we mindlessly scroll.
I have found that when I slow down and read more methodically, and strive to savor and understand each word, that I am more engrossed in what I am reading no matter what it is. It helps me to remember what I read better. It makes me feel more calm. Forcing myself to read slowly, paying attention fully to every word, I gain so much more from what I read. Sometimes when I finish a book, I get sad, because I enjoyed it so much. For some things I read, I may write in the book, underline, highlight, or take notes.
Rushing through a book, can tend to make me feel more nervous or anxious. Like it is a race. I want to feel relaxed and calm when I read. I used to want to read 100 books a year. While I didn’t do that, I found I was mindlessly reading just to get to the finish line. That is not the reason I love reading. It isn’t a race or a competition. The pleasure is in the act and atomosphere of reading, and then also the story or words you are reading. That is the real pleasure.
