Famed historian David McCullough, who once told a class of graduates at the University of Massachusetts, “I understand the average American watches four hours of television a day. That’s 28 hours a week. I also understand the average American reads 250 words per minute. Therefore, if the average American would turn off the television set and spend those 28 hours a week reading, he could read all the poems of T.S. Eliot, all the poems of Maya Angelou, two plays by Thornton Wilder, including Our Town, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, and all 150 Psalms in the Old Testament. That’s all in one week. My advice to you graduates is read, read, read.”
Reading is something I love to do, but feel as if I never have the time. I guess you make time for what’s important, but sometimes I feel like I’m thinking through my day to figure out when I could read. I also get bogged down in bad books sometimes, and it affects my reading habits. I’ll read about one book a week for a month, then get stuck in something not as fun to read and get stuck on that book for a month. Then I’ll eventually just get another book, and then I’ll have two books going at the same time. Then I get overwhelmed and feel like I’ll never get through two books. About that time I’ll be in a book store and find a book that I’ve wanted to read, and now I have three books going at the same time. And sitting on my nightstand is this unfinished stack of books taunting me and lording over me like I’m some inferior creature. I’ve always felt that a real sign of intelligence is how often a person reads, and when I’m not reading regularly I start feeling dumb.
Anyways, I’m in the middle of 4 books currently; but one of them is really, really great! Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. This book makes me want to head out on an adventure and conquer some unseen land!
I do love reading, I just wish I could escape to a beach for the weekend and catch up on all of it.
