Untold StoriesA few months back I committed to reading (actually listening to audio books) much more often. Before that, I had really fallen off the…
A few months back I committed to reading (actually listening to audio books) much more often. Before that, I had really fallen off the reading train and had not been reading at all.
Now, I’ve been able to knock out two or so books a month. I plan to increase this cadence to 4 books a month by next month.
Anyways…what types of stories have I enjoyed most? Where have I learned the most? What kinds of things do I want to be reading in the future?
Unique, transparent, untold stories are my favorite.
I like hearing and learning about things that I have not thought about before.
Reading, like this, helps me to explore new parts of my brain and the collective human unconscious.
There are so many industries and types of people that I have yet to encounter in my personal or professional life. It is hard to understand and build empathy for things you cannot relate to.
Books help me begin to close that gap and widen my own personal perspective on how I see the world.
I really like hearing transparent stories from history. I like hearing how significant people throughout history grew up. What were these soon to be “world shakers” doing while they were in high school?
Did they have lots of friends?
Did they get good grades?
Were they the captain of their sports’ teams?
What did they eat?
The list goes on but for me these somewhat peculiar and specific questions are extremely fascinating.
They make everyone, even really intelligent or famous people, seem human.
And that’s true. We are all human. Sometimes, though, it can be hard to see the normalcy of individuals — especially if you disagree with them, or see them as a star. Regardless, they are people too. They had friends in high school. They dealt with social pressures. They have to deal with how they look every morning.
Simplifying to that level that we can all begin to relate to is very powerful.
Originally published at gonen.blog.
By jordangonen on August 10, 2017.
Exported from Medium on February 17, 2018.