Viewpoint Immersion

I was an avid reader when I was a kid, and I can pinpoint the exact moment when that stopped being true.

I'm at the local cafe today grabbing lunch when this realization strikes. My laptop's open on the table in front of me, and I'm watching Ann Patchett's new TED Talk while I eat. She's describing her life-long love affair with reading, so naturally I'm reflecting on my own. I'm impressed with the way she's weaving together her message. And I mean, she's a writer, so that kind of makes sense.

My chewing slows when Ann starts talking about how books can plant seeds and grow readers. She's so right. I became a life-long reader because of Harry Potter. It was my gateway drug, so to speak. I've even written about its impact before. Those books sparked a love of storytelling for me. They taught me to imagine what it would be like to immerse myself in the viewpoint of different characters. Doing that is how I would become completely engrossed in almost any story.

I'm sitting in this cafe and Ann's talking about her experiences yet I'm picturing my own. I remember getting the 6th Harry Potter book the day it came out, on my way to go camping with my mom. She probably wishes we hadn't made that stop, because all I did was read for the first couple of days during that trip. Morning, noon, and night, my face was buried in a thick copy of The Half-Blood Prince while camped along Maine's coastal shoreline. "Want to go kayaking?" Nope. "Hey, how about we go for a hike?" Nuh uh. "We could walk down to the dock at least??" No thanks—almost done. I basically did the same thing when The Deathly Hallows came out, too. Except, that time I was sitting out of activities at summer camp and nobody could figure out why a I would voluntarily give up double free-swim on the hottest day of the summer to sit next to the pool and read instead.

When I was a freshman in high school, I had an english teacher that pretty much ruined reading for me overnight. She turned it into a chore. I didn't really pick it up again until my twenties. Now, I read every single day; usually first thing in the morning, but always right before bed.

While Ann's underscoring the importance of making reading accessible, especially to kids, this is what I'm thinking about. It goes beyond accessibility, though. Thinking back on my intro to reading through Harry Potter, I realize why.

Reading teaches us to immerse ourselves in the viewpoint of different characters.

Damn.

Well played, Ann.

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Our Daily MAP Year Prompt
288/365

Are you a reader? Would you want your kid(s) to be?

onward.

For more on this daily column and The MAP Year Project, read the backstory here. And if you know someone who'd appreciate this, pass it along.