Why You Should Read More

by Reilly Jaworski | Apr 26, 2021 | Archive

A sad truth of the modern age is that few people practice the act of reading voluntarily. This is a topic that I continually take a passionate stand on, though I know it isn’t that way for many reading this; we’ll work on that. Reading isn’t just a hobby, it’s an activity necessary to the understanding of the world we inhabit and everything it contains (though, it’s also an undeniably fun way to pass time).

Yes, reading is fun. Just because it’s something you have to do for school doesn’t make it any less fun. Reading should not just be something you do to pass English class, but something that you do if you want to dig deeper into the world and how you feel about. Reading gives us an opportunity to really notice things beyond our first impressions of them. One of the several superpowers that will strike you with a book in your hand is the ability to think about the world you live in rather than maintaining the habit of merely living in it. Reading grants you the power to really notice things rather than just pass them by, while also lending us the prospect of thinking freshly and opening our mind to new opinions and perspectives.

There is a book for just about every situation you find yourself in and a poem for nearly every feeling you have. This idea is elucidated in this quote from The Catcher in the Rye: “Many, many men have been just as troubled morally and spiritually as you are right now. Happily, some of them kept records of their troubles… And it isn’t education. It’s history. It’s poetry.” Reading is the only thing we have that proves our connections and similarities with people whom we have not met, both dead and alive. The fact that we are never alone in our interpretations of life becomes evidently clear when we read our own thoughts within books written by other individuals, demonstrating that life’s greatest thoughts are communal. When we realize how similar we are to the people whose thoughts we read, there is an invisible line that stems out from ourselves to those people, connecting us. When your eyes linger over the words that have been organized into sentences by a person you have never met, you meet them in a sense that is far greater than if you had met them in the flesh, just passing by. 

A really great thing about reading is that you can choose what you read (most of the time). There’s a book for everyone just as there is a movie and TV show for everyone. The facet of reading that makes it much better than TV, though, is that you are granted the privilege of  interpreting it in your own way and seeing it in your head differently than anyone else who has read the very same book. Your experience with a book will always be unique and your perceptions of the world within the text will change the way you perceive your own world. A great book persuades you to inch out into a different world and live there for a while, focusing on the lives of characters and how they both mirror and contrast with your own. 

If the more abstract benefits of reading weren’t enough to convince you, perhaps the knowledge of mental and physical benefits will be enough to coax you over to this side of the argument; according to Healthline, reading actually changes the networks of your mind, making them stronger than non-readers, thus earning you total bragging points. Another major benefit is that consistent reading can decrease your chances of cognitive decline as you age increases. If that’s not enough for you, it also lessens stress, which is an attribute of reading that we could all profit from. While making you a smarter, better rounded individual, the effects of reading branch out into many different aspects of life.

Reading isn’t just an obligatory assignment or something you do occasionally just to feel good about yourself. It shouldn’t be a chore or a relief once finished, but something you treasure. Savor the moments in which pages shift in the creases of your hands. Hold onto the feeling you get when words leave the page and relocate to your eager mind. Understand that history and original thoughts are being carried on with you each time that you read. Within you, they live. When you appreciate reading rather than dreading it, all of its merits will become strikingly evident, ready for you to enjoy.

You Should Get Up Earlier

by Reilly Jaworski | Mar 19, 2021 | Archive

What if I told you I was writing the bulk of this article before I’ve even had breakfast, on a school day? Would you deem me a lunatic, tell me I should go to sleep and wake up at a humanly hour? I would understand if these were your initial reactions, as mornings are among the most universally deplorable concepts existing in modern day, and having to get up early in the morning is an even more detestable situation. Your morning probably looks something like this: you get up, you brush your teeth, you throw on some clothes, maybe acquire some time to eat a granola bar before booking it out the door. I know this is the most likely case, and I also know that it is the very reason why you object to the morning arising each day when your alarm goes off. When you don’t have time to do things that make you happy and set you up for an actually enjoyable day, you won’t actually enjoy your day.

Start by waking up just fifteen minutes earlier. Now, this deducted fifteen minutes of shut eye shouldn’t radically set you back energetically. Fifteen minutes, I find, lies right in the sweet spot of being able to get more done before your day starts while also not causing you to be too tired to function. However, if you’re going to bed at two in the morning, you can’t blame me for your lack of energy. Kindly go to bed at a reasonable hour that works with your schedule and set your alarm just fifteen minutes earlier than you typically would. 

Now, what to do with these extra fifteen minutes. A fair question, of which I have a myriad of answers. Is there something you’re putting off? Should you read your book for English for a few minutes? Feel like exercising or going for a walk around the block? You could always try for eating an actual breakfast (it’s the most important meal of the day, you know) or even watching a few minutes of your favorite TV show to set the day right, and get you in a good mood.

There are other perks to getting up early that you may not think of in your pessimistic haze, some of which have some very emotionally beneficial impacts. Firstly, and my personal favorite part of the morning, is that you might be able to catch the sunrise. Frequent are the mornings in which I look out my window, my mood instantly brightening. The emotional effects of a colorful sky should by no means be underestimated. A more concrete benefit of waking up early is that it decreases your stress level by allowing time for a calm, well paced morning routine, leaving behind the need to rush around like someone who doesn’t wake up early. Lastly, it’s shown to improve your sleep, as you are able to get through all sleep cycles at night, thus, leading to more enjoyable rest as well as a greater amount of energy to dip into throughout the day.

Now that you’re educated on the benefits of waking up early, I encourage you to try it for a week. Just a week of waking up fifteen minutes earlier than usual is what I urge you to do. If after a week you see not even a sliver of improvement in any realm of your life, give it up and sleep in longer. Hopefully this trial run of earlier rising will get you practicing a new habit that pushes you closer to a mark of improvement in some aspect of your life.

Do What You Want And Don’t Feel Guilty About It

by Reilly Jaworski | Mar 15, 2021 | Archive

If you’ve ever found yourself trapped in the midst of a homogeneous cycle in which every one of your days is indistinguishable from the last, you probably are pining for something new. However, you most likely also tell yourself that you don’t have time for something new. We all do it; claim that time is what controls the ranking of our days. What if I told you that there’s a way to do everything you want to do by using time to your advantage rather than thinking of it as an opponent?

First and foremost, as I’ve always said, time is a manmade fabrication. Not to get too philosophical but does time really even exist? Does it matter? Should we let a concoction of mankind control our happiness? I’m not telling you to stop showing up to your classes on time or to cut sleep out of your schedule, but I am saying that having “no time” is not an excuse for mediocrity. I understand that the workloads pile up from school and then there’s your job at the grocery store that takes up time and chores that you have to help out with, but, there’s also a life to be enjoyed and not a single moment should be construed as a triviality.

So, how do you come up with clever ways of doing what you want to do while also making time for things that you must do? There are a few steps, actually.

1. To-Do list. This is my personal staple and is the ultimate backbone for ensuring that you make no excuses for not getting to what you want to get to. Write down a list of things, with threefold categorization. Firstly, scribble down (usually I use purple pen but whatever works for you is just as well) all of the things that must be done that very day. This for me is usually school assignments. Next, write in a different color all of the things that you want to do for yourself. This could be reading, watching a specific show, taking a nap, whatever you fancy, and whatever you feel would make your day worth your time. Thirdly, write down things that you want to do with and/or for people around you. This could be doing the dishes for your parents, helping your friend understand the homework assignment that they couldn’t figure out, or anything else that could benefit someone you care about. Then assign a little box next to each item on the comprehensive list, in order that you will be able to check it off at the end of the day.
2. Timestamp. Here’s what you should do in order to make sure you get to everything on your list: record how long you are doing each activity so that you don’t lose track of time and end up spending an hour and a half on your chemistry homework. If it helps, write down desired times next to each item on your list so that you know precisely how long you want to do each one for. This will help you immensely with being both realistic and optimistic about your itinerary.
3. Release the feeling of guilt. We’ve all felt guilty for taking a break between study sessions, feeling like we aren’t doing enough to approach our goals. However, guilt is a liar that misleads you into believing this. The truth is, the best thing you can do for yourself and for your future is to give yourself time to relax and absorb information before putting in more laborious effort. It’s actually proven that we learn and retain information better when we give ourselves the occasional hiatus from work. It might feel strange to take time for yourself and to rest, but it isn’t just nice to take a break, it’s vital.

So, in the midst of that familiar cycle of monotony, remember these steps and break out of it before you look back, unable to note any distinctions between the days.