On Reading

I’ve started a new habit ever since we opened up our workspace more than a month ago. During weekdays, I would leave my laptop at the office and I would only bring it home during weekends.

What was my purpose of doing so? Well, initially because it was troublesome to carry it around. It, being a laptop that weighs a ton because it quite thick and even the battery pack is thick. The laptop which I fondly call ‘war machine’ nowadays has been with me for more than 3 years and probably holds quite a sentimental value with all the memories and experiences that we have shared, but I digress.

Aside from it being heavy, my other reasons include that I felt that I was on the computer and more specifically on the internet for way too much time, sometimes for 12 of the 15-18 hours that I was awake. While it felt that I was more connected than I have ever been because I was constantly bombarded by information and news, at the same time, I was feeling a disconnection with my real life. It was not a real disconnection in a way that I have totally cut off contact with people in life but disconnection on a mental level. I’m often distracted, forgetful or have difficulty remaining in focus because I feel that there’s so much things to be processed and my mind is constantly thinking forward.

My other reason and the true purpose of this post, was to do more reading. Not simply reading text on the computer but actually touching real paper, flipping through pages of text and exercising our human imagination which makes reading truely a wonderful experience. I’ll be frank, I’m not exactly the most well-read person and I hardly know what a good book is. I would usually base my reading on recommendations of people that I know or people that I admire.

Currently, I am reading The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, which I found through this zine I read written by a Japanese streetwear designer. So far, other books that I’m looking to read is ‘Good To Great’, which was a recommendation from my uncle and maybe Noah Chomsky books, which was recommended by the same zine that pimped The Fountainhead.

It’s time for me to go back to reading and before I end this post. I just realized how much I enjoy writing. My writing might have a slew of faults and errors, my grammar or sentence construction might be bad  but I like it. It makes me feel…free.