Perhaps some of you may have managed to read the recent letter from Pope Francis about Literature which is intended to be a means of formation for priests and a way to grow in personal maturity. However, when I came across that letter, I realised immediately how literature and books hold hidden chambers that we can all unlock and use in ways that can help us not only flourish, but also grow in wisdom.

Over the years at Hearts+Minds, we’ve featured numerous blogs about the benefits of good books and the enrichment that reading brings with it. Summer may seem like a distant memory now but no doubt we have all experienced some warm days this year and possibly used them to escape to another world through a challenging plot or exciting and unique characters.

Reading: a healthy form of escapism

Books can definitely help alleviate boredom when it comes. Or allow us to escape from the worries and stresses that can accumulate along the way. Or simply give us the freedom to enjoy a few hours alone with another mindset, another voice outside of our own. But is it just entertainment and a healthy pastime?

What about personal growth and flourishing through books? Or becoming more mature emotionally or more psychologically discerning through what we read? Can reading help us to develop wisdom?

The deeper benefits of reading

During the winter months I teach and lead a group of adults in a literature class. This is an opportunity to take some of the classics - and indeed modern-day classics too - and look at them in the light of our life experiences. One of the most thought-provoking things has been the opportunity to learn more about the lifestyle of writers; about what actually motivated them in the first place to write, and to write a particular work on a certain theme or issue. 

Studying literature in this way (both the work itself and the writer’s lifestyle) can open up new horizons and doors that may shape our outlook on life and enable us to think very differently about books, literature and the authors responsible.

Now to answer the question more fully: can reading help our personal growth? Here are some lessons I have learnt along the way about the power of reading.

1. Reading changes your perspective. 

As we grow older obsessive thoughts and manias can creep up and dominate us. Books can help move us out of that cave of isolation and listen to another person’s voice. Books can become an ideal way to help us look at life and its problems from another perspective. All of which can challenge us to grow. When we pick up a literary text we are putting ourselves into a position of ‘seeing with the eyes of others.’ We thus broaden our perspective on life and this in turn expands our humanity.

2. Develop your vocabulary

We all have our own story to tell, and a good book can facilitate that telling, and the manner in which we express ourselves, by enriching our language and vocabulary and ways of expression.

3. Hope in times of challenge

Darkness and confusion can assault us at times and make our path in life more arduous and difficult to navigate. Books and literature can teach us how to understand those deep abysses that are within each one of us. They can be a great way to illuminate - and even change - those abysses and tunnels, by filling them with more faith and helping us move out beyond ourselves and interact with others. 

4. A greater sense of wonder

The universe is a place of mystery and a source of awe. Books can cultivate and deepen in us that sense of wonder and fill us with gratitude for all we have been given.

5. Examine our own lives

Literature can help us interpret life, discerning its fundamental meaning and tensions by capturing what goes beyond the surface of experience. When we contemplate the violence, limitation or fragility of others we are faced with the opportunity to reflect on our own behaviour.

6. Develop meaningful relationships

When we immerse ourselves in the fears, doubts, dramas and tragedies of another person through reading, we gain a greater understanding of life and people, and this can help us to connect with others as well as preparing us to face the challenging situations of our own lives.

7. Empathy for others

Good books speak to the heart of a person. They can help us grow more in empathy for other people who may not be like ourselves. We learn how to weep and laugh and sympathise with others. What we feel is not just ours personally, but is universal; everyone else feels the same.

8. Reduce stress and learn to relax

The pace of life and events have accelerated at an enormous degree. Reading and good books can counteract this incessant activity by helping us stand back from what is immediate and slow down. When a person stops and makes time to read a book simply for the pleasure of doing so, they begin to recover more positive ways of relating to reality that are not orientated towards achieving a goal or a strategy. We learn how reading can teach us how to listen more and perhaps even contemplate God’s purpose in our day. 

Making reading a habit

While reading might be a form of escapism, literature and books are inspired by the everyday things that also make up our life, our work, the people we love and the reality of suffering and death. It’s worth setting aside a little time everyday to read. What to read might be the next question? Perhaps we should spend time selecting what we read not because someone else says it is good, but because it is what will help us at whatever stage of our life we find ourselves.

What else would you add? What benefits have you found from reading?