You must have heard that we should read at least 30 minutes in a day !
BUT WHY ?
No, not because fiction just gives you an escape from reality, it’s just a beginner’s excuse to read. When you do reading consistently, it’s way more big than this excuse.
You must be thinking that fictions are just some unrealistic stories, and I can use my time better in reading self help books.
Then Hold on!
Do you remember in childhood when it’s difficult to learn the answer of a page, we used to make stories from keywords? And everyone has learnt periodic tables of chemistry by making some weird stories? WHY ?
Because it’s easier that way, we can relate and remember things for a long time.
In most of the self help books, everything is written so clearly, every secret to success, but have we been able to follow that up? We forget everything as soon as we turn the pages!
But in a fictional world, everything is opposite.
You remember some character for years, their best part in the stories, their weakest points, how they overcame that. EVERYTHING! Like everyone knows Hermione Granger and how good she is in studies. Girls relate to her and try to become like her.
Firstly, fiction allows your mind to work, you develop a habit of asking questions in between, Why this world here is so good or bad ? and instantly we try to relate things to our world and find out it’s the same actually, just twisted and in another form. That’s where we start learning. Unlike non- fictions where just facts are stated, your mind does not need to move much and accept that simply.
Secondly, in Fictional world, you can experience anything, any feeling you want, before you experience it in your life and can better deal with it, be it intense pain, cancer, suffering, anxiety, happiness, love. It helps us to feel empathy for people, we have never met before, that way we can understand them better and appreciate their feelings.
Lastly, It helps to reduce stress. When you open up a book where you have fallen in love with a character and read it’s whole life, while sitting on your warm bed with your favourite beverage and aromatic candles, that can actually help in healing your soul.
A study shows that reading fiction for 6 minutes is sufficient to reduce stress level by 60%, it’s more useful than going for a walk or listening to music. Plus it helps to get quality sleep.
What more do you want to start reading fiction?
