On Reading for Pleasure

I posted this as an addition to someone else's post on Tumblr. It's about encouraging people to stop reading books and other things they don't like. As an avid reader myself who is also guilty of this (can you imagine?!), I added onto the post, talking about why I think people do this.

Copy and pasted below!

If I may add to this, as someone who's a lifelong avid reader and still guilty of stubbornly continuing reading things that don't bring me pleasure, enjoyment, or even mild interest? And I do this as someone who's also aware of the above?

I think the reason-or at least part of the reason-so many of us still do this as adults has to do with how school and even sometimes our families have raised us to relate to reading.
As much as I have always loved, loved, loved, loved to read, I don't think I'm alone in the experience of having it drilled into my head during grade school years that you read To Get A Good Job As An Adult, you read to Be Intelligent Enough To Pass Standardized Tests, you read to Be One Of The Good Kids That Stay Quiet/Out Of The Way, you read So Your Teacher Gets Praise From Other Teachers And The Admin.

You read for every reason except for your own pleasure.

I will say I think I was one of the lucky ones who was born to a mother who raised me from infancy to indulge in reading as a pleasure first and foremost.

My mother is the reason I was already reading at 2-years-old and loving it.

Nevertheless, I also spent a lot of time in grade school with my peers reading books that I Absolutely Did Not Enjoy for the above implications. Most of the books I hated were during the high school years-I read more Shakespeare than I had the patience for let alone gave a shit about; I slogged through goddamn "Huckleberry Finn" until I couldn't take it anymore and just cheated by reading the Sparknotes; and I detested "The Old Man and the Sea" to the point where I would read it if I needed help falling asleep.

Worked every time.

But because I always finished these books, did well on the assignments, and received praise from my teachers...I too internalized that Reading Has Nothing To Do With Pleasure.

Fast-forward to my adulthood in my 30s aaaaaand...yeah. I've still internalized continuing to read books I don't like. Sometimes I justify it by saying "Well, I already paid for it" or "Well, I'm already halfway through it", but I understand both of those are simply sunk cost fallacy.

I also still hear my old teachers' voices telling me I'm doing all of the above things that a Good Kid Does by continuing to read with no pleasure. And if I'm able to finish the book, there's a part of me that's still that little kid waiting for that shiny sticker, candy bag, star, A+ grade, etc. for a "job well-done"...even though none off those things are coming and as an adult, I don't need them to come.

Though there's much to be said for the benefits of reading (if someone actually enjoys it) and the general failure of the U.S public education system in our peoples' analytical skills, critical thinking, and a general ability to read between the lines. Avid reading as a pastime can help with that, if you personally want it to.

Being an adult can be fun and full of things you want to do...but it's also already more than full of things you don't want to do.

And I firmly believe that, as much as possible, reading should be one of the things that you want to do.

The school assignments are over-you can enjoy yourself now.