What We Lose When We Stop Reading Deeply: On Slow Reading, Bibliotherapy, and a Vanishing Form of Attention

We are living in an age of acceleration: acceleration of technology, of communication, of productivity, of consumption, and of attention. We are on an information treadmill, fed an unlimited diet of notifications, images, headlines, summaries, messages, comments and opinions.

This often leaves very limited opportunity for reading and a deeper form of reading. The question, then becomes whether reading still has space to exist as a deep practice, or whether it too is becoming fragmented by the conditions of the world around it.

At its shallowest, reading is the simple act of decoding words on a page. At its deepest, reading is an encounter with another consciousness. It asks the reader to slow down, to follow a thought across time, to enter a world that does not immediately belong to them. A novel, an essay, a memoir, or a philosophical text requires patience. It asks for sustained attention, emotional openness, and a willingness to sit with complexity.

Read the Rest on My Substack

If you are interested in Bibliotherapy, you might enjoy my book, Bibliotherapy: The Healing Power of Reading or our Online Bibliotherapy Courses.