How To Discover Yourself Through Reading Fiction
Whatever book I’m reading, fiction or non-fiction, I always take notes. It’s obvious why note-taking is important when reading non-fiction; but think it’s equally as important to take notes when reading fiction.
Non-fiction books teach us about the world. Fiction books teach us about ourselves.
The most important relationship we have in life is the one we have with ourselves. And my favorite way to nurture this relationship with myself is my method of marginalia.
When I’m reading a novel, if I come across a sentence, passage or even a word that sparks something in me- I mark the page with a sticky tab. I use to immediately write notes in the margin or copy down a sentence into my commonplace book, but I found that practice to slow my reading down and remove me from the immersive experience. Instead, I now wait until I’m finished with the book and will manually transcribe the brightest portions into my online notebook and reflect on why those words spoke to me so much.
“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for he is not the same river and he is not the same man.”
The collection of notes you take, passages you underline and pages that move you, form a kind of fingerprint. They are unique to you and only you, and only at this specific moment of time. They capture the mystery of your current existence, your experience, your heart. Keep them and treasure them, and years from now, when you'll look back, you'll have a gift. A metaphysical picture of who you are at this very moment.
We should pay very close attention to moments that spark delight, no matter how small. These moments are our inner light and compass that exposes ourselves to ourselves. They are guiding posts to who we are and who we want to become.
