March 27, 2024
5 Life Lessons, Literature Teaches You

5 Life Lessons, Literature Teaches You

Literature is regarded as a Nobel form of art and for years it has been so. By definition, it goes as “written works, especially those which are considered to have lasting artistic merit.” So, what’s a great deal about reading a couple of books which are written by great writers? Here’s the catch! Reading enhances one’s mind and improves creative expression. By mind, we mean everything related to mental activity and not just knowledge. It includes the experience, feelings, emotions, and other complex neurological phenomena.

During my initial days as a literature student, I was excited about all the books I had to read and review. It was a lot of fun until I was asked to annotate two lines from a poem in 250 words. God! Why didn’t anyone tell me it’s gonna be hard? I thought maths was my greatest enemy all this while. After years of studying; literary theories, ages, writing techniques, seminars, and grades, I only had one question: What did I learn all this while? Was I just reading books and scribbling lengthy summaries over the sheets? Nope.

” I studied literature and graduated in life.”

Here’s how;

Life is an experience

Ever asked yourself, what’s the purpose of life and why should you live it? Of course, we did! Poets and writers answered the question for us, already. That, Life is an experience and you have to live, just for the sake of it. No grand gestures and no great phenomenon, “Just Live it, your own way.” How cool is that!

Empathy

Nope, that’s not the same as kindness. It’s a more intense feeling. That’s when you feel others wound as your own. You relate yourself to the main character of a film or a book and feel everything they go through. Literature teaches you to be more sensitive to others’ pain and emotions in a way. It’s all about understanding the other person better.

Judgment

This is quite tricky. As individuals, we face situations and moral conflicts daily. And we deal with them effectively, too. But we deal with it from our own perspective often ignoring others’. But what if you are presented with different perspectives and are asked to choose one which is Right? Here, you weigh the problem, look into the situation totally, and analyze how it affects the future. And what do you get from such rigorous analysis? A strong sense of justice further improves your morality.

Interpersonal skills

Yeah! In a world of introverts and short conversations, it is rare to find someone whom we can open up and talk to because we often fear being judged when initiating a conversation. We fear being judged for our lack of knowledge and experience about a particular topic. After reading books and looking at characters who talk just like us, we come to know that, “We are not alone!” There’s always someone who agrees with my opinion. Adding to that, it gets easy to catch up with conversations too. It’s just you need to be more open to others’ ideas and accept them.

Wisdom

The quality of having experience, knowledge, and good judgment. A basic understanding is that you can always learn to form others’ experiences and your own. Literature gives you a perspective to appreciate life as it happens and enquire more. It raises questions that hit your soul and gives answers which put it at peace. After all, books are the mirrors of our souls!

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