Speed Reading

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“No two readers can or will ever read the same book, because the reader builds the book in collaboration with the author.” – Neil Gaiman

This was originally published on 10/11/2023. Heads up – you may have already read this!

I’ve been speed reading blogs lately. My apologies to anyone with whom I haven’t done a good job of keeping in touch. Somehow, I got behind (I say it somehow like I don’t know how, but we all know how life piles up sometimes). Then with notifications that I had 200+ blogs to read, just from the blogs that I follow, I endeavored to speed read my way through.

Interesting thing though. When I did that, I got a glimpse of the bigger picture of our collective writing. Something like flipping through a book with a drawing in the corner to get the feel of animation. I picked up Word Press like a magazine to thumb through and get a sense of what kind of publication it was.

We all have a story to tell

It’s magical when we are treated to another person’s story. We get a little moment of being able to inhabit someone else’s shoes. In the posts I sped through, I found so much vitality created by writers opening up a vein, to steal from Ernest Hemingway, and leaving a bit of themselves on the page.

The narratives range from trauma to kindness, optimistic to pessimistic, factual to fiction which makes it hard to figure out what this collection has in common. But my speed read led to an a-ha. What binds it together is a rich tradition of story-telling.

We are trying mightily to understand what it all means

To borrow another writing quote, Anne Lamott said “Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave.  They show us what community and friendship mean; they show us how to live and die.” There is something in the practice of putting words on a page that defines the outline of what we are trying to live. And as we draft new versions, we keep reshaping what that looks like. We are writing things into life.

It seems this was even more palpable during the beginning of the Covid pandemic when we were faced with something most of us had never seen in our lifetimes. Collectively we were trying to understand the landscape of socialization and security as conditions changed. We faced fear and grief by writing about it.

Now that those concerns have receded, or at least become a familiar backdrop, I see us wrestling with love, parenting, the state of our planet, success, family, aging. Sometimes with humor, and other times with tears, but we show up on the page as real people writing it out.

There is a beautiful persistent vibe of trying to get better

That leads to the final gem that I gleaned from the pile of posts I sped through. There was a consistent spirit of trying to share knowledge. The collective is telling their stories, processing life through writing, and when we learn a lesson, we memorialize it in words.

This might be the highest hurdles of our collective writing. How to offer up the individual lessons so that others can heal and learn. What I noticed is that we are learning through teaching. Often humbly, and with a dose of personal perspective, but as Yale sociologist Nicholas Christoff says, one of the incredible things we do as humans is cooperate with genetically unrelated individuals, “We teach each other things. People take this for granted, but it’s actually unbelievable.”

iWe are publishing a magazine every day. A lifestyle magazine. An inspirational writing journal. A guide to healing. I’m sorry I’ve missed your individual posts but I’m glad for the opportunity to thumb through this magazine. Well done!

(featured photo from Pexels)

43 thoughts on “Speed Reading”

  3. As a child, Wynne, a device from ‘Evelyn Wood Speed Reading,’ fascinated me. Not sure if the mechanical contraption worked, but the concept stuck with me. I practiced for both reading comprehension and speed, giving me an advantage at work. Books offered mentors who helped me fix the stinkiest challenges. Your Spotting ‘patterns’ emphasizes the power of speed reading. Thanks for inspiring us with the persistent vibe of trying to get better.

    Liked by 4 people

    1. I love how you’ve taken the topic of speed reading even further with this comment, Grant! Yes, there is power in doing a speed read when possible. Thanks for the great comment!

      Liked by 3 people

  4. “There was a consistent spirit of trying to share knowledge. The collective is telling their stories, processing life through writing, and when we learn a lesson, we memorialize it in words.”

    I love how you’ve found the nut in the middle of a very large fruiting body! You’ve tapped into the very essence of why and how we write!

    Liked by 5 people

  9. Wynne, I love the way you have wrapped up your response to things that we can be a little anxious about on this platform. “Learning through teaching!” Well done, and well delivered my dear! 🥰🙏🏼😊

    Liked by 3 people

  12. Neat how flipping through WordPress gave you a kind of aerial perspective. And what a delightful consequence of that view. How bloggers are sharing themselves and knowledge. Great things to love about the blogging community 🌞

    Liked by 3 people

  14. Congrats on taking the bull by the horns and speed reading your way through dozens of blogs. When I fall far behind, I tend to read and delete, or just delete. I hate doing it because I know that I am missing some total gems of wisdom and insight from those who put their heart and soul into the sharing of life experience. Or—sometimes I read and “like” only, rather than comment. My sincere apologies for that. Life has become a bit complicated, and priorities must be sifted and sorted. But trust me—I bless and appreciate you beyond measure, even if you don’t hear from a response. And this is for Wynne, and each one of you whose blogs I follow. Out of sight, but never out of heart. Thank you!

    Liked by 2 people

    1. Priorities must be sifted and sorted — so true, Julia. And you are never far from my thoughts either. No comments necessary but I love our touch points!! Sending lots of love!

      Liked by 2 people

  16. One of the things I’m thankful for in the writing community is that we are a community of storytellers and listeners too. There is a healing that takes place in, as you said, memorializing our experiences in writing and then having others teach us. A circle of learning and sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

  18. “The collective is telling their stories, processing life through writing, and when we learn a lesson, we memorialize it in words.”

    My favorite sentence because it describes the experience so well.

    Liked by 1 person

  19. I have no idea how you can speed read 200 blog posts, because I’m sure even that took a lot of time. I’ve often wondered how you do it Wynne, all that you do. I’m exhausted! 😆
    Second, yes, it is about story telling to share, to help others heal, or to save them through lessons learned. It’s a beautiful community and there is a story in every one of us and in all our experiences. What a beautiful thing we humans do and have done for millennia. We just now have platforms like WordPress and social media to continue the tradition. Love this post.

    Liked by 1 person

  20. Ahh, but “speed reading” is really just a politer way of saying “skimming.” (No judgment. When I get bogged down, I’ll sometimes do the same.)

    Love your take on sharing collective knowledge!

    Liked by 1 person

  21. I’ve had to speed read a few times when life gets too busy to regularly visit all my favorite pages. And it’s an interesting experience. It’s a bit like binge-watching a series, where people seem to mature and grow before our very eyes in a short timespan. There have been instances when bloggers have chosen similar topics, yet wrote entirely different stories about their experiences. This blogging world is so very exceptional, educational, and diverse. I love it!

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  22. I love that – “We teach each other things. People take this for granted, but it’s actually unbelievable.” I only follow a few blogs and I am retired so I don’t get so far behind but I agree – I learn a lot just reading those I follow. I am encouraged, saddened, made to love, sometimes to pray. A few I have followed for quite a while have become friends and recently one quit blogging. I find myself worried – why?

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