I’m in beautiful Honolulu, Hawaii this week—my first weeklong vacation in years. I feel so grateful to be in such an enchanted space, my handsome man by my side as we hike the summits of Diamond Head or KoKo Head each morning before gorging on fresh pineapple and papaya and, then, honestly, ice cream! (I figure I can splurge a little, having just hiked over a few thousands steps already, right?)
Today’s Pub Tip has been sparked by a phenomenal article in Ode magazine entitled, Reading, Writing, and Revelation, by Ursula Sautter. The author’s point is that reading helps refresh the body, mind, and soul. Hawaii is no doubt refreshing my body, mind, and soul at the moment, but this is something reading has always done for me. And, it’s not necessary to hop on a plane to get the benefits. All you need is a writer who can masterfully transport you to the sun, sand, or sunset (or any favorite place), a cozy chair, an hour or two, and you’re there!
But, sometimes, according to the article, reading isn’t just your best friend or safe place, but also your best therapeutic medicine.
Sautter tells the story of a young 17-year-old girl named Mackenzie Bearup, who suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), an incurable chronic disease that affects the nerves and blood vessels and causes her horrible discomfort. Mackenzie tried every healing mechanism available, including: physiotherapy, acupuncture, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and painkillers. Nothing worked. What has worked, however, is reading. “So far, books have been my only medicine,” Bearup says. “Bibliotherapy” is a form of therapy that isn’t new, but is only now just getting PR in the states. It starts when a therapist makes reading suggestions for a client, based on their individual symptoms. Already popular in Europe, it helps improve people’s quality of life through stories. Any good book will do, from Shakespeare to self-help, alleviating pain by getting the client out of his or her own thoughts and onto a good story instead.
Reading can’t cure diseases, but Sautter highlights a fascinating study involving 112 smelter workers in New Brunswick, Canada. The workers who had read the most, experienced a greater protection against lead posioning. Lead-caused motor impairment affected both the readers and non-readers in this particular study, but the intellectual impairment due to the cerebral damage from the heavy metal was higher in the non-readers. Researchers deducted that reading contributes to what’s called a “cognitive reserve” (CR). “Individuals with more CR are able to withstand injury to the brain,” says Margit Bleecker, who co-authored the study. CR is what the brain does to protect itself and adapt to physical damage.
Hmmm. Have any urges to dust off that paperback and fill up your cognitive reserve?
You can ask your physician or psychologist for reading suggestions, but you can also try contacting a bibliotherapist. Sautter tells of one in Milan, Italy, Stefania Moro (a print and TV journalist, holds a master’s degree in social psychology, and a Ph.D. in philosophy) who takes her clients on reading journeys. During her meetings, Moro chooses to avoid an intellectual setting, and instead has clients come to her home. After carefully selecting the prose and discussing the stories, she reads aloud to both individuals and groups. Moro’s quick to point out that although she’s not a psychologist, and thus may not be able to give her client a “solution,” what she does do is help clients see themselves in certain stories and characters, thus bringing the individual closer to conscious healing and evolution.
This got me thinking about where I come from, and my own reading prescriptions. My mother lost her mother at an early age—she was only nine—and spent the bulk of her childhood and teenage years with her nose in a book to fill the hole in her heart. Later, as an adult, she co-founded a very popular book group at Stanford University that stands to this day—The Page Turners (a few years after she died, I was invited to speak to the group after the release of my first book… what an honor!). As for my youth, I wasn’t into the whole deadlines for school thing growing up (frankly, I loved school for the boys and the sports), so what I read, on my own time, was what I wanted to read.
When I felt awkward in high school, I read Judy Blume or stories of historical figures that defied the odds or were ahead of their time.
When I was bored out of my mind and needed adventure, I read J.R.R. Tolkein or tales of the lost city of Atlantis or ancient Rome and Egypt.
When my parents died, I read Louise Hay and Jean Houston and Chicken Soup for the Soul, and stories of overcoming loss.
When I went through my divorce, I read everything I could get my hands on about staying open to love love, healing, forgiveness, abundance, and starting over in midlife. Boy, did those books help!
I’ve created a life around reading and writing, and it’s been my savior. As I sit here in my 3rd story hotel room, overlooking a crystal clear blue lagoon and feeling like I’ve indeed been given a second chance at happiness, I ask: What have you read lately? What thoughts are filling your brain?
“I don’t have time to read,” people tell me every day. I’ve often been guilty of uttering those same words. But if you knew that time would help ease your depression or procrastination or boredom or sadness, would you find the time?
I thought so. Just a thought.
Aloha for now!
Linda
