Picking up a new hobby

Throughout quarantine, I somehow came up with the motivation and resolve to come out better than I went in. I decided that I would start revising some of my unhealthy habits and replacing them with healthier activities, such as reading. 

I began reading again directly after Christmas when I received a few books as presents. Over the break, I started reading and was able to read around 2 or 3 books before returning to school. 

It was a good change of pace from the constant stream of vapid entertainment that most Americans are subjected to. Instead of staring at my phone for hours on end, I had a meaningful and purposeful reading session.  

Of course, I still looked at social media because there is a worldwide pandemic and I did not have the chance to socialize in another way, but reading is a good escape from the real world.  

It also seems like doing things like reading or engaging in brain straining activities helps me organize my thoughts better. I feel more knowledgeable and intelligent than I did last semester.  

I feel like reading helps people think more critically. When participating in Socratic seminars and literary discussions, I feel like I have a better ability to look between the lines and come up with a critical analysis of the story. Reading makes me want to understand something rather than memorizing it.  

I wish I could help people separate themselves from social media and take up different hobbies to enrich their lives and let them express themselves through the arts. Social media is a cruel and vapid distraction from living fully, and reading is a good reconnection with the real world. It is an honest glimpse into the mind and soul of the author.  

Some of the books I read were Dear Martin by Nic Stone, Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, and 1984 by George Orwell. 

Dear Martin is a good book about racial injustice in America from the perspective of a young black teenager named Justyce while Dark Places is a riveting mystery book about the lone survivor in a satanic massacre that was revisited years later. Breakfast of Champions is an excellent, cynical, and humorous commentary on American race relations, politics, and life and 1984 is an immensely powerful political book on the worst hypothetical government.  

I am currently reading Catch 22 by Joseph Heller, which is a book about a World War II unit based in Italy. It’s a hilarious commentary about war and it closely follows the lives of the soldiers involved. 

Overall, I recommend trying to decrease the usage of social media and replace it with reading. It is an amazing investment in a healthy entertainment source.