Permission to Read Freely

I've always read a lot. But I'm reading more than ever at the moment. And spending more time reading than ever.  By that I mean I'm reading more slowly than I ever have before.

I'm savoring the words and considering them more deeply. 

The books I'm reading now often seem to carry a more precise and practical relation to my place on my life's journey.

It's been interesting to give myself permission to read so much more. Reading often still feels like entertainment to me, or some sort of passive ingestion of life lessons that should be less valuable than hardcore, direct experience.

You can't learn to ride a bicycle from reading a book. You have to ride the bicycle.

But understanding the mechanics of the gears and the role of physics and momentum in the underlying truth behind that activity -- there's a real acceleration of understanding by reading the words of others who have studied it more deeply and experienced it more frequently, as opposed to starting at square one and trying to figure that stuff all out by yourself. And the deeper truths extend way beyond the single act of recreational cycling.

I've always valued books. I enjoy reading and I know I've learned in invaluable amount from the practice. Yet, the newfound depth at my recent reading practice often borders on profound.