In the Ted Talk, “What Reading Slowly Taught Me About Writing,” Jacqueline Woodson names a few reasons for reading. The reason that she gave which spoke to me, was to read to get lost and forget about the hard times. This aspect of reading is especially important in 2020, which has been a difficult year for most of the world. It is important to be able to get lost in a book and for one to escape from his or her problems for a short period of time. Any book can achieve this by allowing one to enter a whole world in a book where one’s problems are far away. I believe it is crucial for one’s mental health to not constantly be surrounded by one’s problems but have a way to escape; getting lost in a book is a good outlet and a good way to refresh oneself. To me, the ability to get lost in a book is the ability to control your emotions and to not get too engrossed by the problems in the world. I believe it is a practice that people should try and use in difficult times.
Out of the subjects we read/watched/listened to for our class’s blog posts, the “Hotel Corona” podcast really stood out to me. It is a refreshing story about different kinds of people coming together and putting aside their differences. Our blog posts touched upon racial discrimination, police shootings, stereotyping and other topics, and we have learned a lot about our need for change. The “Hotel Corona” podcast shows how amazing our world can be with the changes we have come to learn are necessary for our society. In the hotel, people with different backgrounds, religions, cultures and ethnicities built a connection with each other and learned that we are all the same on the inside and that we can get along despite our differences. The podcast taught me that people get along by nature and it is a small-scale representation of how our society can be when people set aside their differences.
It’s interesting how you pointed out the positive side of the Coronavirus. I think because we are going through this present time, and put many of our lives on pause, we see the pandemic in a negative light as it destroyed our ability to see people’s faces and our social lives. And in no way is the pandemic positive as it killed thousands, but people were able to make positive points out of the horrible situation. It brought people closer because everyone’s difference didn’t seem very different when they were all fighting on the same side against the virus.
Josh, I really liked your analysis of the podcast and the importance of reading slowly. I believe that everyone needs an outlet from the world where they are able to just focus on what they’re doing. Your review on the Hotel Corona Podcast really resonated with me because of the optimism and good vibes it provides during this crazy year. This year has been a rollercoaster of ups and downs for all of us and some positivity is just what we need. I hope you continue to spread messages of love, peace, and happiness in all your future endeavors. Good Job!
I found it interesting and agree with what you said about how especially in 2020 reading can be very important. It is a great opportunity to put aside any difficulties you might be dealing with at the moment and get lost in a book. Like you said, it’s a great way to momentarily escape from your problems. The podcast Hotel Corona stood out to me as well, and it really showed a rare positive outcome of the corona virus,