#Reading

Bedtime reading is the act of escaping into the world of books under the calm of night. In reality, it is a self-indulgent ritual of battling drowsiness by the dim light, with every turned page aiding tomorrow’s oversleeping. More often than not, the moment the bedside lamp goes out, the contents vanish, leaving knowledge as naked excuses. What should grant comfort ends up piling sleep debt, becoming perhaps the greatest self-deception of one’s life.

A book club is a social ritual where people gather around a chosen book to share their intellectual superiority. Participants claim profound insights while often having skipped entire chapters. It is a battlefield of so-called critiques, cultivating each other’s craving for approval. Ultimately, everyone parts ways with the beautiful debt of “I’ll read it by the next meeting.”

A lectern is the silent stage director that tricks audiences into perceiving authority in a speaker’s words. Crafted from stiff wood or cold metal, it doubles as a torture device by forcing awkward angles that sharpen listeners’ focus through mild discomfort. Height adjustment mishaps can create absurd postures, transforming minor errors into grand spectacles. While speakers spread wisdom from its top, they inadvertently reveal that their grandstanding relies entirely on this humble prop.

A magazine is a paper tower built of ephemeral trends, featuring flashy covers and sensational headlines that entice curiosity while concealing its foundation of shifting sands. With the sweet aroma of freebies and special features, it drives purchases without ever touching on substance. By the time the next issue arrives, this issue’s fervor has cooled and it’s destined to gather dust in a corner. Yet readers cannot resist the hope of opening the next door to novelty.

Reader response is an experimental device that blends an author's blood and sweat into a criticism mixer, extracting both praise and hatred simultaneously. Compliments inflate the author's self-esteem, while vitriolic insults quietly embed thorns in the heart. Endless loops of misunderstanding and interpretation eventually spawn new narratives. Countless reactions drift across the great sea of social media, where truth often drowns in the waves. In the end, reader response is nothing more than an invisible tug-of-war between author and audience.

Reading is the self-indulgent ritual by which idle souls seek salvation in printed ink. The act of stacking books is the pinnacle of self-satisfaction, while actually reading them is nothing more than a battle with sleep. The more one flips pages in pursuit of knowledge, the more real-life hours quietly vanish. Library silence becomes the perfect alibi for one’s inability to focus. The spines on a bookshelf are the con artists promising ‘someday I’ll read this’ ad infinitum.