I returned to reading towards a successful effort to decrease the digital distractions
in my life. One night, I found that I couldn't sleep because my
mind was cluttered with things. This was a result of mindlessly reading junk on my phone before and after I slept. It was an automatic impulse that I didn't realize was occuring. With all of my schoolwork
piling up and the increasing impulse to escape into my screens,
I felt like I was getting out of control.
I finally had enough. I unplugged my charger and found an outlet for it
downstairs. I left my phone with it, and went to my bookshelf to
browse for an unread book.
Much to my chagrin, I haven't purchased a new book for a while, but
I finally found one hidden in the back that I had bought at the Bookcase
in Wayzata. I picked it out as more of a souvenir than to read: the Bookcase
was going out of business, and our neighborhood received a letter from them
for their going-out-of-business sale.
The book was called Ruth 3:5. It wasn't a commercial book, but rather,
a book that was a second-place finalist in a Minnesota book competition.
While the writing wasn't great; the story, the theme, and its messages
were all enthralling.
Needless to say, I brought that book upstairs with me, and the rest is history.
I began my reading for pleasure and learning on my own, and all devices
have stayed in their rightful places downstairs. I owe it largely to my
Introduction to Literature class for rekindling the sense of adventure-- more importantly-- the sense of humanity, that literature connects us with.
What Intro to Literature Has Taught Me: Annotations and Journaling
Ever since my Introduction to Literature class, I have annotated in OneNote
all the lessons I have learned from books. Not just lessons, but experiences
I resonate with, or rewording an author's point to make it more clearer. The
figure below is from "Philosophy 101" by Paul Kleinman. In the quotations is
a quote from Rousseau that I resonated with.
"In man's natural state, man is happy, needs little, and knows nothing of good and evil."
The last part reminds me of the Biblical knowledge of good and evil. Also, on a personal note, when I don't see evil around me such as in watching the news, I feel happier and less anxious.
In the same book, I finally understood Einstein's theory of relativity, and
I describe the theory by paraphrasing the example, and then finally using
my understanding of sound to make the understanding connection:
I think I may have finally understood the theory of relativity: the book uses Einstein's example of two lightning bolts at point A and point B that occur simultaneously. One observer is positioned at midpoint, and another is riding in a moving train. Einstein says that two lightning bolts occur simultaneously no matter what, independent of the observers' positions. But because the light and sound has different distances to travel to the observers (called frame of references), it will appear to them as occurring at different times. Since it is impossible to eliminate the frame of references, the observers must be positioned somewhere, it may be impossible to observe "absolute simultaneity in physics.
If the book wasn't really intellectually-stimulating, I'll still record it in my yearly timeline table. Here is a three-row sample what it looks like currently:
Timeline 2017
Title
Author
Pages
Obtained
Date Began
Date Finished
Travels with Charley
John Steinbeck
288
Barnes and Noble
12/28/16
1/14/17
Last Car to Elysian Fields
James Lee Burke
465
Recommended by Brian Amazon: Quality Deals
2/3/17
2/23/17
Joni
Joni Eareckson Tada
200
Borrowed from a friend
2/26/17
3/4/17
With that, by annotating, you'll gain a deeper understanding and a richer experience
of the literature-- not to mention of yourself. It is also in ways, like a journal, that
will record a piece of you for ages to come.