"Open House for Butterflies", by Ruth Krauss
Illustrated by Maurice Sendak
What slows you down?
I tried many ways, as it appears not too easy for me. Recently my favorite time to slow down is to curl up in my sofa and get lost in brainpickings (brainpickings.org), an e-newsletter posting a digest of interesting readings every Sunday by Maria Popova . This week’s topic, “The Magic of the Book: Hermann Hesse on Why We Read and Always Will”, is most relevant to me as I have been seeking answers to exactly the same question: in a multi-media dominated world, is reading (and hence books) still relevant? Hesse claimed “We need not fear a future elimination of the book” in his 1930 essay “ The Magic of the Book”,
“… It will become evident that formulation in words and the handing on of these formulations through writing are not only important aids but actually the only means by which humanity can have a history and a continuing consciousness of itself.”
Reading and (especially) writing take more time than receptively absorbing what’s imposed in front of you by TV, movies, or radios. A book is less aggressive. It’s just there. It’s up to YOU to open it. And it takes more energy to dig in. The meaning of a book has to be an interactive result between the reader and the writer on a deeper level, otherwise, the meaning simply does not exist.
Just like sitting next to a stream. You need to be quiet so that you can listen to how your heart is connected to a book. And that’s when magic starts.
6/12/2016
Astoria, New York