Outline:
Backstory
How to choose a topic to read about
How to internalize what you’re reading
4 min read.
Backstory
Books have played a large role in improving my personal life. I grew up in a home where learning through experiences and oral tradition were emphasized. When my family wanted to teach me about discipline they made me sweep and mop our home often. There’s a story I like to tell my closest friends that in my home in Guatemala we had tile floors and I would sweep and mop the house. After I was done my dad would dust the bottom of his feet and slide his feet from room to room and if he found any dust I would have to do all over. Like I said, they wanted to teach me discipline, the importance of doing a job well done and consequences.
My journey into the vastness of literature didn’t start until after high school. Learning through reading is different then learning through experience. Reading introduces you to ideas big and small and they usually challenge your pre-conceived perspective of the world.
I read often. It is one of the ways I get to interact with the past, the ancient, the far-away countries and with cultures different from my own. Now that I’m more developed reader I have sharpened a practice that I think serves me when deciding which book I should read the next time I’m at the local books store (go support them!) or browsing through my kindle. Let me share some of my practices.
How To Choose A Topic To Read About
Think about your daily conversations with friends and family
This is a great place to start. How many times have you been in a room with friends or family that keep bringing a topic over and over and you have nothing meaningful to contribute? We’ve all been there. If you find that a topic is interesting and want to be part of the conversation, ask your family and friends if they have any book recommendations. That will be a good jumping off point.
Think about the national rhetorics
If you spend any time on social media like Instagram, Twitter, Reddit and Facebook (Hi moms and dads out there!) then you have a barometer on the hot topics in the U.S. and abroad.
Topics like Black Lives Matter, immigration and refugee crisis, feminism, the patriarchy, automation and the future of our jobs, constitutional rights regarding the second-amendment, U.S. educational system, how social media is making us depressed, etc., are all relevant and in the national consciousness. If you are tired of having the internet and other people making up the bulk of your opinion on a particular topic then perhaps you are interested in taking ownership of your thoughts on current affairs. This is a noble pursuit and it reminds of that quote that says, “There is no challenge more challenging than the challenge to improve yourself.”
How To Internalize What You’re Reading
In order to have original ideas that are free of idealistic thoughts and general opinion you will have to spend sometime invested in a particular topic. Once you have chosen a topic a good place to begin is by searching and buying the most recommended book in the field.
As you are reading and encounter new ideas practice articulating them by sharing them with friends. Try and find friends that usually have differing opinions than you. Saying out load what you’ve learned will help you identify the weakness in your knowledge and arguments. Practice!
While you are reading a book try to fit the story into contemporary context. This means reading your local and national news stories and comparing notes and testing the author’s ideas against that of the journalist.
Once you’ve read your first book, then read another from an opposing view or different perspective. Like everything in life, seeing it once will only familiarize you with the topic but in order to master the material you will have to re-visit the topic multiple times.
Finally, do not overlook novels. Novels are always written in the contextual perspective of its time. Authors usually find inspiration from the world around them and the journey and lessons of the protagonist are teachable moments meant to incite or shed light on old, current and new ideas.
Darwin Carbajal 