Reading

"Reading, after a certain age, diverts the mind too much from its creative pursuits. Any man who reads too much and uses his own brain too little falls into lazy habits of thinking".
Albert Einstein US (German-born) physicist (1879 - 1955)

Well, it has been a long break and much has happened in the interim. The two most significant events have been a tremendous holiday in Sardinia (Cagliari, Costa Rei, Pula, Buggerru, Domusnovas, Chia, Nora etc ) and my leaving my professional home, the company I had worked for for almost nine years. I am looking forward to the exciting challenges ahead and I have also been doing much reading....and thinking.

Reading is essential. And particularly for children, it is an unquestionable imperative.
It is the most straighforward way of acquiring and leveraging knowledge. It opens up new dimensions. It can stimulate and it can entertain. But it can also become a passive habit. It is a question of approach. How do you read? Does your mind race? Does it make connections? Ask questions? Do you pause your reading and ponder? Do you integrate what you learn? Do you relate it to what you already know? Or do you simply absorb the information and feel good?

The other side of this is how active do you keep your brain? Do you do some independent thinking? Do you create concepts? Do you organize ideas? What about solving problems, puzzles or playing chess? Or even writing your own book?

The more you keep your brain active, the more capacity you have for benefiting from reading...