See-Saw
Whenever I read a non-fiction book, which could be self help or a business book, I feel I’m moving towards a greater goal. It feels as if I could never go back to reading fiction/fantasy cause they seem made-up and I need real life learnings to grow myself to be better at my job. But, as long as I’m reading non-fiction, I feel like I’m missing something.
This could be coming from the fact that many of my teachers told me I should be doing something productive all the time. I believed it so well that whenever I’m reading about a life history of a CEO, I never feel like I’m wasting my time. A part of me tells I’m being productive. Of course I’m learning some parts from their story which I’ve implemented in my life.
The other half of my brain goes silent though and that’s the creative part. I am moving towards something better yes but at some cost. It’s as if I’m bound by only the ideas others had when I look at those stories. I am improving yes but only to the extent others have tried.
Fiction and Fantasy are also writer’s experiences but they didn’t have a way to put those words straight. Hence they create characters, worlds and stories in those worlds to put forth the learnings through those characters. As if the writer learnt way too many things and want to put it out into the world, but they aren’t able to, because the sentences feel too rigid and immovable. Too much grammar search, too little flexibility. Fiction pulls down all those walls to create whatever they want, whichever learning they want from the mouth of any character they create.
I observe more of it in books cause I read a book for a month and have enough time to live through it in my mind. Movies do it too, just a bit too fast.
Hence I love to alternate between a fiction book and a non-fiction book. As I read, I enjoy it fully while longing for the other. This helps me neither be fully rigid nor be fully vague. Good enough to see growth while seeing magic in others.