The Guilt of Reading

I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one who said this before but it’s true. Many readers who have busy lives that include a job, school, pets, family, and travelling to the moon will agree that at some point in their lives, they may have felt bad for reading.

I’m not talking about the genres or types of literature people are reading but the time they take away from important activities to read. For example, I’m a full-time university student that is required to do school readings every week for every class. It can easily pile up to 11 chapters of reading each week because we focus up to 2 chapters per class. So when I’m curling up in bed after returning home from a long day of classes with a book that I’m reading for pleasure, I feel an immense sense of guilt and dread dragging me lower and lower to the pits of despair.

Because really. Shouldn’t I being using my time more wisely on school rather than jumping into the world of the latest new release from new york times best selling author blah and blah?

And when I do decide to become a rebel and read when I have the impending doom of school readings, I feel like I’m not fully enjoying it as much as I would have if I didn’t feel guilty for reading it. That then, in return, leads to me not reading at all and feeling guilty for not reading as much.

So what am I trying to do now?

I’m taking things slowly. I’m not going to beat myself up for not reading as much as I did back during my winter holidays because I simply don’t have enough time in the week to. I’m busy with club meetings, homework, friends, etc. And I’m going to tell myself to feel less guilt for things I enjoy.

And tell my guilt to…

Also, I believe a strong reason why I’m reading slower than normal is because a)i’m slowly heading into a reading slump and b) I’m not all that interested in my current read.

Thoughts? Opinions? Do you feel the same way as me? I would love to hear what you think so please comment down below!