Fiction can change your life. It’s safer than drugs and cheaper than therapy.

I’m not suggesting that you don’t need drugs or therapy, but I can tell you this; stories have been around longer than either and continue to serve us well.

Reading fiction is not a waste of time. Nor is it a luxury. So if you find yourself feeling guilty about sitting down with a good book, remember these five ways you are improving your life.

Five Gifts Of Fiction

Respite. Reading a good story has the power to do two seemingly opposite things at the same time. It both takes us away and keeps us fully present.

There is a meditative quality to putting our attention on a story. And we all know the benefits of meditation.

In this demanding world of faster!-faster!-bigger!-better!-more! fiction gives us refuge. It slows us down.

Perspective. Reading the stories of others’ lives reminds us and reassures us that we are not alone. Not in our fears. Not in our joys. Not in our longing or suffering.

If the protagonist survived these horrors, chances are we can too. It teaches us how we might see things differently.

Space. Fiction provides a comfortable distance, a buffer zone from which to view our own vulnerability. Maybe we’ve felt that pain, had that experience, been that disappointed, hurt, angry, ashamed.

We feel compassion for the characters. Maybe we can even find some compassion for ourselves. And for others.

Privacy. Within the buffer zone we might discover things about ourselves that are just too personal to share. After all, the characters in the story aren’t going to tell our secrets. Or we might see someone else’s story, get a better understanding of their plight, and become a little less judgmental, a little kinder.

Control. It’s always available in real time. Pick up the book whenever you want and attend the event for as long as you like. Stop when you want, it will wait for you.

I recommend real books, you know the old fashion paper kind. They don’t scream at you and interfere with your brain waves the way technology does.

Travel to distant lands. Go back in time. Put yourself in danger. All from the safety of your armchair, in your slippers, with your tea or wine.

If you find you don’t like the story, just stop reading it. It’s totally up to you. You’re in control.

Finding Truth In Fiction

Continue reading “Five Ways Fiction Can Improve Your Life” →

 Do you live in a friendly universe or a hostile universe? – Albert Einstein

For the past month we have been bombarded with natural disasters. Hurricanes, floods, and earthquakes leaving many of us feeling vulnerable and helpless.

When the 7.1 magnitude earthquake rocked Mexico City this past week, 32 years to the day after the devastating quake of 1985, my anxiety peaked. I felt raw.

I don’t live in Mexico City now, but I did in 1985. Back then we felt isolated. Sirens blared night and day. Without electricity, getting information even about our own circumstances was difficult. News came slowly passed from person to person as new horrors were discovered.

There was no Internet in 1985; no cell phones with video capability. I notified my family in the U.S. that we were safe via telegram. Yes, telegram!

This week (from Iowa) I sent messages to my friends and family in Mexico on social media, asking them to check in. I waited. It seemed like forever.

A Fawn In My Yard

The next afternoon, sitting in my office trying to focus and get some work done, I perceived movement out the window to my left. Even before I turned my head to see what it was, my peripheral vision and my mind were working together imagining what it could be.

Thanks to brain research we now understand that our unconscious brain interprets situations nanoseconds prior to our conscious brain. This is the primitive self-preservation mechanism that resides within the amygdala, always alert to potential danger.

With peripheral vision we have awareness but not clarity. Clarity requires sharper focus and analysis. Continue reading “A Fawn In The Yard. The Power of Perspective.” →