How a Reading Habit Cured My Loneliness

Books can be the best escape from reality Source:Unsplash

Have you heard of the loneliness epidemic? I hadn’t until recently, when I discovered that in 2023, the U.S. Surgeon General declared that loneliness affected roughly half of U.S. adults. Loneliness, his advisory stated, has been linked to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, dementia, and depression.

**“The rise of technology and the internet seems to be an underlying culprit in the loneliness epidemic.”

• Candy Elson, a lead social worker at Sharp Grossmont Hospital for Behavioral Health.**

Finding Company in Pages

I have limited company in my daily life, but I am someone who loves to talk and connect. Naturally, I used to feel lonely almost all the time. I’d always been an avid reader, but lately, it has crawled into my veins like never before. It feels almost like an addiction, but a deeply healing one. I seldom find myself in agony these days. Instead, there is a profound sense of satiation in my soul, all thanks to my habit of reading every day.

Yes, every day.

Books, across a wide range of genres, impact us in wildly different ways depending on how we perceive the world. But the common thread is the birth of new ideas, the spark of creativity, and a deeper curiosity about how the universe operates. Reading is not just about escaping reality; it is about expanding it.

For instance, I recently came across an article discussing how Albert Einstein did not believe in a God “who grants wishes and sends angels,” but rather a superior power whose grace makes the world so intricately mind-blowing that we can barely perceive it with our feeble minds. Another piece I read argued that gentle parenting might actually cause reduced cognitive development and increased sociological stress in children, making tantrums just the beginning if not handled with a little strictness.

These are completely different genres, but both expanded the horizon of my wisdom. They pulled me out of my own isolated bubble and connected me to the grand, ongoing conversations of humanity. I learned things I wasn’t aware of before, and in doing so, I felt a little less alone.

Dragons, Venin, and the Art of Slowing Down

To look beyond just the hunger for knowledge, the constant presence of my favorite book on my bedstand serves as a warm hug. It reminds me that I always have a plot I can get lost in. Escaping reality doesn’t mean hiding from it; it just means reality doesn’t always have to be gloomy and dull.

In the pages of a book, I have dragons to ride on, venin to battle, and subjects to save.

In today’s age, where information is endless and cheap, true literature remains a luxury for those who can sit down, slow down, and take in the depths of language. It belongs to those who refuse to run at the frantic pace of the modern world, and who still value the timeless essence of storytelling.

The art of reading is not just a tool to build vocabulary or fluency. It is an antidote. It is a way to ensure we never have to become a statistic in a loneliness epidemic. A book introduced me to the thin line between solitude and loneliness, and I’ve never gone back.

Perhaps the right book could do the same for you.