A few days ago, I walked into one of my favorite places: a bookstore. Light music playing in the background, discreet murmurs from those consulting each other in search of the right book to choose, and that sense of peace you feel in a place steeped in memories, stories, and experiences. A magical place.
As I wandered among the books, my attention was caught by a phrase written on a tote bag for sale: “Reading teaches you how to read.”
I smiled.
I approached the bag and paused for a moment to think about how profound that statement is. Reading to learn, to discover, to understand — yes. But also reading to comprehend, to decipher, to decode.
The world we live in is complex, as we've discussed in one of the previous articles. It’s within this complexity that we make decisions, live with biases and heuristics, striving to be aware of our choices and preferences. In this context, I think of Nobel laureate psychologist Daniel Kahneman, who tried to provide some answers in his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, where he described "System 1" and "System 2" in our decision-making processes.
Not just Kahneman — I also think of psychotherapist Wayne W. Dyer, in his book Your Erroneous Zones, where he invites us to reflect on our “erroneous zones”: those behaviors and habits that prevent us from growing. Dyer argues that the concept of growth is fundamental to the concept of life: if there is no growth, there is no life. So, how important is the level of awareness in every day, in every moment? Without that “autopilot,” so that what we experience is not merely a consequence but a conscious choice, aimed at helping us grow and improve, step by step.
As I like to think, the life of every human being is not a straight line; it resembles more the tracing of a heartbeat: there will be ups and downs, where every moment is unique in its irreproducibility. And, like any will, the will to learn from what we experience is also a personal choice.
Reading can teach us to read all of this: to ask questions, to seek answers, to wonder if another way is possible, to look for new strategies to face everyday life.
I’ll conclude this article with a delicate yet profound excerpt from a writer who has adopted Sicily as her home, Giuseppina Misuraca. An author who lets go of all preconceptions, looking at life and its changes without judgment, remaining open to what each day will bring, with awareness and gratitude.
“But our life, and we all know it, is not made up only of important things, but also of many other small things that sometimes seem insignificant but are not. In fact, it is because of these that we might feel a strong emotion, and from there, a new feeling can even arise. A small thing can lift a weary and tired man or a disappointed and bitter woman. So, these things that seem less important actually have their own greatness; they are like a sip of fresh water when you are thirsty.”