Time To Enjoy Summer Reading

I have been delayed this year in writing a post about Summer reading programs but finally getting around to it. I do hope I can finish my PhD dissertation in a year so I can have it behind me and move more into a wider variety of reading and doing more writing here in my blog.

For the past month in my counseling practice I have been reminding parents of teens and children I counsel, to keep their minds active during the Summer with reading at their local library . Some of my young clients enjoy that idea and others put on a sour face when I make the suggestion. Seeing those responses reminds me that those clients who enjoy reading usually have better progress in the counseling process. It would be an interesting study to compare those who enjoy reading and those who do not as to how well they improve in their counseling therapy.

Reading has always been one of my favorite Summer activities. (of course for me it is year round as well). In Summer I usually look at Oprah’s magazine just to see what books she is suggesting. I have always appreciated her promotion of the importance of reading. In the O magazine for July, Oprah had this to say about reading: “Nothing, not one thing or activity; can replace the experience of a good read – being transported to a different land, a different realm, through words and language.” That thought of being transported took my mind back to my early reading experiences at the Barberton Public Library as a child. The fiction books I gravitated to were about other lands so I remember being transported in my imagination to other areas of the world and learning of other people around the world.

Back in May when we visited Barberton I stopped by the library where I spent many Summers in my elementary years. Then in my high school years I worked part time through high school there. I noticed during my visit there they were advertising their Barberton Public Library Summer Reading Club. Here is the weblink if you want to see how they do their Summer reading program-- www.barbertonlibrary.org/content/create-page-4 For children their theme is "On Your Mark, Get Set...READ!". For the adults, I liked the theme thought of “Exercise Your Mind”. For a vibrant life it is so important at every to exercise the mind.

My local library here in New Braunfels, Texas is promoting a “Read for the Win” Summer reading program. Here is the link to explore their program. newbraunfels.libguides.com/summer They state on their program website this about reading-- “Reading isn't just fun - it keeps us up to date on what's happening in the world, helps us connect with people in other places and times, and helps us keep our brains sharp. Reading is like exercising your mind!” Summer is an excellent time for outdoor activities to exercise our bodies and to be in physical shape. We must remind ourselves though as both libraries are emphasizing in their Summer reading programs exercise for the mind is just as important.

Someone on Facebook posted the quote picture I have listed here of a reading thought by UK author, Neal Gaiman, “The simplest way to make sure that we raise literate children is… to show them that reading is a pleasurable activity. And that means finding books that they enjoy, and letting them read them.” His thought is so important in today's world. Public Library Summer reading programs is one of the best ways to allow children to find the books they will enjoy. That is the beginning of a literary life. Librarians are there to help children and teens to find books that tap into their passionate interests. This Summer take your children or grandchildren to your local library to be involved in their reading programs. They have programs for adults as well so pick up books for yourself at the same time.

Fell free to comment on any thoughts you have about Summer Reading.

Reflection: What books are you reading this Summer? How can you encourage those in your circle of influence to involve themselves at their local library?

Classics As Part Of Your Reading Diet

With Summer coming soon I will doing some blog posts that focus in on reading. I have several clients in my counseling practice that are telling me they will have their children involved in Summer reading programs at their local library. I often encourage them in doing so. As I have mentioned before libraries and reading has always been important in my life.

In considering reading material I read a short book recently from a teacher encouraging the reading of classics by children. The title of the book is Classics Why we should encourage children to read them. It is written by teacher and author, Fiza Pathan. Knowing that a teacher has a passion for encouraging young people to read literary classics was a pleasure to read about. So many of my teen clients and college students paint a picture of schools K-12 being about standardized tests which actually turn them off to learning. We need more Fiza Pathan’s out there in the schools stretching the minds of students in writing essays and reflective papers on literary works as she describes in her book.

Reading through her book made me to think back over my reading history when I was younger and some of the literary classics I had read. Titles such as The Call of the Wild by Jack London, The Time Machine by H.G. Wells, The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, and my favorite The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis were a few a my favorites that I reflected upon. Fiza’s passion for the classics reminded me that I need to incorporate some of the classics from her list that I have not read into my present and future reading. Most likely future; with my next year being inundated with my PhD dissertation work. She reminded me that there is profit in re-reading old favorites as well; as at a different age and context, I may gain new insights from stories like The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells for example.

Fiza also develops an argument for young people reading of the classics by emphasizing how this can develop their minds. One of the first aspects of development and I feel the most important is how reading the classics develops the imagination. She makes an important statement, “In my teaching experience, I have realized everyone has an imagination; whether the student is an honest first ranker or a sports freak… one has to make a student aware of his or her capabilities. With a rich imagination, a person can do wonders with one’s life.” (Page 9) An imagination and creative mind can be built up as the stories in the classics encourage the mind to take the reader into the story and visualize what they are reading.

She goes on to discuss what I call the addictive levels of young people watching tv and computer videos. As a teacher she has seen the creative powers of students limited and stagnated by their almost constant visual attachment to a video screen. That is because the video spoon feeds their minds the visuals and information in a passive manner. Their minds are not stretched to visualize the scenery themselves. Their minds are not transported into the scene as they are mere passive observers. I have had young children as counseling clients who say their teachers do not read to them in today’s schools. Instead the “book” is shown in class on a screen with an unseen narrator reading to them. The schools are turning reading into another movie/tv experience. That is why I am not really keen on ebooks for children. It is just reinforcing an addiction to staring at a screen. How I remember my third grade teacher, Mrs. Clifford reading books to us. I believe that helped encourage me in my reading.

Fiza also moves into how reading books aids in vocabulary building and general knowledge about life and the world. Some of the great works like the writings of Dickens transports the mind back to historical times and can make history fun. Science fiction and futuristic books can encourage a young mind that is interested in science. There are a myriad of benefits to encouraging young people to read the classics. This does not rule out those of us who are not young people. As I mentioned she has an extensive list of classic books. Go to your local library and ask a reference librarian to help you look into some of the classics they may have in their collection. Or most libraries can get about any book you are looking for by their library loan programs. You may also wish to check out Fiza’s website www.fizapathan.com that connects to her blog to find other ideas about encouraging your children in reading or developing your reading diet.

Reflection: Think back to your favorite literary classic. Which is one of your favorites? Do you remember when you read it? Why did it impact you? Go to your local library and pick up a literary classic to read.

What We Gain From Reading Fiction

As the New Year begins I want to focus on an emphasis on reading. This week I wish to consider the importance of what we gain from reading works of fiction. Recently I was reading a book I found at a used bookstore, Storytelling: The Art and The Purpose by Laura S. Emerson published back in 1959. Her thoughts on storytelling made me think of how fiction writers know the art of storytelling. They write the kind of books that you don’t want to put down as their stories capture the mind and spirit inside us as we read.

In one of the chapters she focused on the purpose of storytelling and the importance of it. I will apply some of her thoughts on storytelling, over to the importance of reading fiction. She explains why stories relate to us, “Since we are creatures of emotion, intellect, and will or personality, we tell stories that will appeal to, satisfy and influence those three characteristics.” (p.25). Fiction novels tap into those aspects of our being. Through reading we can grow in a positive manner in our emotion, intellect and our overall well-being.

Reading adds personal enjoyment to life. I know for myself as a Bookhead, reading is one of my favorite personal pastimes. To this point Emerson points to children. “Stories give pleasure. ‘A good story,’ Dr. Henry Van Dyke, ‘ is it’s own excuse for being.’ The child who begs, ‘Tell me another story.’ Reveals that the story has made him happy and has satisfied his emotional hunger… A good story feeds the life of the spirit often emaciated by materialistic influences. All great art appeals to the spirit. G. Stanley Hall, the great educator wrote,’ Stories are the natural soul-food of children, their native air and vital breath.” (p.25). I would say books are soul-food for children of all ages.

Her pointing to children remind me of times growing up when during the Summer reading programs there would be times of being involved in group reading times. For me there was an emotional enjoyment of hearing a story read. That is why as I have mentioned prior, that it is important for parents to encourage book reading by verbally reading to their children. In reading books to them and by the children seeing parents read that encourages a viewpoint that reading is an enjoyable pastime instead of something just required for school work. I sadly see in counseling sessions, where parents unaware are using reading as a form of punishment. Parents tell me; they will take the video game away and “make the child read”. That is counterproductive to show that reading can be an enjoyable activity.

Emerson brings out in her thoughts how Fiction stories can help improve the imagination in children and I would argue keeps the imagination growing in our adult years. Reading and storytelling is a powerful means in improving the imagination. Through the story the world of make believe can aid in building the creativity of a young person. I remember an older student in one of my classes who told me after we discussed the importance of reading how she and her husband, an artist, and she purposely limited their children’s television and video game time to encourage reading and hands on art. They wanted to strengthen their imagination. This reminds me as well in Dr. Ben Carson’s story of his life, Gifted Hands, he shares how reading helped build his imagination which aided him in coming up with solutions to problems when he was older as a neurosurgeon.

Emerson also points to how fictional stories build our intellect and understanding of life truths. She quotes Friedrich Froebel, “The telling of stories refreshes the mind as a bath refreshes the body; it gives exercise to the intellect and its powers; it tests the judgment of the feelings.” (p. 27). Keeping our mental powers strong and growing can be helped through reading of fiction and learning from biographies of people which is learning from other’s life stories.

Another important thought is how reading of good fiction can have an effect on our growing in our ethics and personal growth of how we choose to live our lives. She mentions a thought from John Wesley, “We are what we read” (p. 29). She then explains how the early McGuffy readers used in early schools used stories to teach young students moral truths for living. A quote from Socrates again shows the importance for parents to be involved in what young people read, “ shall we carelessly allow children to hear any casual tales which may be devised by casual persons to receive into their minds for the most part the very opposite of those which we should wish them to have when they are grown up.” What we read can have an effect for the positive or negative on children and even when we are older, so we need to use discernment in what we read.

Two other points I felt that were important in relation to reading fiction stories that stood out to my mind in reading Emerson’s book is stories can have a relaxing effect on a person. This is so true and one reason I enjoy reading. When I am stressed a reading session of a book I am interested in is a wonderful way to reduce stress. Even though it allows for relaxation, at the same time, reading builds up the powers of the mind’s concentration. Through learning new words, visualizing the story, and understanding the author’s ideas the brain is being built up stronger. As a reader we benefit from this in keeping our minds active.

Reflection: What is one of your favorite works of fiction? How does reading refresh you? What is your favorite reason for reading?

Connecting Creativity to Reading for Pleasure

foter.com creativity

Creativity is an important side of Living More Than OK. Creativity helps us to break free from the mundane repetitiveness of life. How do we grow in our creativity? Can reading be a help in improving our create side of ourselves? I firmly believe so. The power of story and the enjoyment of reading fiction came aid the mind in improving its creative powers. In reading fiction the mind is actively creating pictures within the mind. When watching a video all the creativity is fully formed in the graphics so the mind passively accepts the rendering of the video pictures without the work of creating the images itself. That is what I prefer about reading in that the mind can conjure up its own imagery of a scene.

Schools focus most of the reading efforts on information building reading. That is learning of facts and ideas in science, psychology, history sociology and the like. This is of importance but reading for pleasure should be encouraged with the study of fiction works as this builds on creative thinking of using imagination and visualization (LeCren, 1997). Louise Rosenblatt speaks to creative reading as aesthetic reading, “The reader is no less immersed in a creative process that goes on largely below the threshold of awareness. He is conscious of the resulting images, ideas, states of mind, even physical states, that are generated by his reading, but he is not aware of the individual responses or of much of the process of selection and synthesis that goes on as his eyes can the page.” (quoted in Lecren, 1997). So the mind is active in reading fiction for pleasure in creating the images in the mind and synthesizing the ideas in the story. Lecren mentions how students who read for pleasure in her class in a two year informal study came up with higher creativity scores on the Torrence Test of Creative Thinking.

Foter.com reading to children

Reading for pleasure in past research has been shown to be positively related to academic achieving. This is especially seen in the particulars of being open to new experiences and ideas. Reading for pleasure is also connected to increase in academic motivation (Kelly & Kneipp, 2009). I can see that in my own life as I reflect back over my years of reading. I believe it was the early fiction reading in Summer public library reading programs that opened my mind to other types of people in the world and the variety of places in the world. It never helped with my low risk taking levels but that is more my personality. Yet I do feel this early reading allowed my mind to be more open to new ideas and continual desire to learn which helped me academically.

Other studies noted by Kelly & Kneipp suggest fiction reading and encouraging reading for pleasure can aid in moving students from outward motivation to intrinsic motivation of the importance of learning for learning sake. Creative reading of fiction and the classics can help our minds grow in so many ways as noted. Those who were more inclined to enjoy reading for pleasure importantly showed a negative correlation to watching tv. I would believe this could carry over to internet video watching. It is important to encourage creative reading early in childhood. As school is letting out encourage the children you know to be involved in Summer reading programs at their local library. Building the habit of the pleasure of reading will reap future benefits. Of course this is not just for children. I spoke with someone today who stated since he got his ipad he hardly ever reads. Put the ipad down and open up a book from your local library!

Reflection: Do you feel reading has helped your creative thinking? What book has tapped into your creative side the most? Stop by your local library or local bookstore and pick up a fiction book to read.

references -
Kelly, K.E, & Kneipp, L. B. (2009) Reading for pleasure and creativity among college students, College Student Journal 43(4) 1137-1144.

LeCren, C. (1997) Creativity and reading … is there a connection. California English (Spring) p. 20

The Magic of Renewed Career Passion

There are various reasons why a passion for a career can be crushed. Sometimes it is negativity in the workplace from co-workers or dysfunctional management teams. Sometimes it is life events such as health concerns or losing significant people in our lives. Sometimes it is just plain burn-out. What can we do to renew the passion for our career? There is no one perfect way for everyone but one thing I learned recently through a movie is be open to that which is seen and unseen in finding the way to renewing a career passion.

The movie I speak of is The Magic of Belle Isle. The main character is Monte Wilder played by Morgan Freeman, ( which is what drew me to the movie). He is a novelist who has written popular Western novels. He is spending a summer in a tourist town Bell Isle. His nephew helps set him up in a summer home of a friend and encourages him to write. The viewer quickly discovers that Monte has lost all his desire to write. First it comes across that it is because of alcohol that he doesn’t write, but soon the truth comes out is that the alcohol is a result of the pain of his wife dying of cancer years earlier. Monte is disabled due to an accident that ruined a promising sports career when he was younger and was first married. He was surprised his wife stayed with him after the accident and through many years of marriage. He had been wheel chair bound since that accident.

Thinking over all that has affected Monte’s life it is easy to see how he could be so bitter clinging to his bottle of liquor each day. It brought a question to my mind. Does remaining bitter make for a better life? Obviously no by seeing the result of his life in the movie. The good news is that people can change from bitter to brighter in their outlook on life. Sometimes in our career life that change of outlook is needed. Sometimes we can change it through our own will many times it is helped by our connections with others around us. In Monte’s case help came in the form of a single mother with three daughters that befriend him. The middle daughter is a pre-teen who once she hears Monte is an author wants him to mentor her in writing. By the end of the movie Monte regains his passion for writing and gives up his passion for drinking.

A couple of important ideas that came across to me in the movie was Monte’s emphasis on imagination. He states, “imagination is the most powerful force ever made available to human kind.” That is so true that creativity and the imagination add so much to our life existence. Also in my mind it is a pointer towards the fact that we are created and should be seeking the Creator of all things. Then in speaking of creativity Monte encourages the young girl to learn to describe what is there. Then he goes a step further to always look for what is not there. That thought of what is not there helps our imagination build new possibilities in our lives. What was there in Monte’s life was bitterness and despondency. What was not there in his life, were new friendships and possible ways to rekindle his writing. Thankfully in the end he is open to seeking after what was not there in his life.

Then as a person who enjoys reading there was an important quote about reading from the mother as they were having their first dinner with Monte “A book is a friend that does what no friend can do, be quiet when you are trying to think.” In our noisy world we need to have times to quietly read and reflect over our reading.

I always enjoy the rare movies like The Magic of Belle Isle that are funny, thoughtful and touching. This is a movie that afterwards one can reflect over and learn truths about our life experiences.

Reflection: What is not there in your life that you would like to work towards having in your life? How is your career and work aspect of your life at this point in time? Is there a new perspective you can go after to reignite new passion in your work?