Musing Monday....With a Wave From The Mouse.

Late again.
But I have a good excuse.
That you will have to read on to find out.
But first, this week's question from MizB at Should Be Reading

This week’s musing is another read-and-respond!
I was reading Eleanor Roosevelt’s book, “You Learn By Living“, via Google Books the other day, and came across a quote that really struck a chord with me. The quote said this:

“What counts, in the long run, is not what you read; it is what you
sift through in your own mind; it is the ideas and impressions
that are aroused in you by your reading.”
(pg. 7-8, “You Learn By Living” by Eleanor Roosevelt)

What do you think about this quote? Do you believe this to be true? If so, why and how? And, if not, why not?

Oh my, this question may involve more thinking than I am up to at the moment. See, I wasn't going to mention it, but I am on vacation. 
Yes...again.
Yes, this is my third vacation in as many months.
Which is why I wasn't going to mention it. But here is the problem. If I don't tell you, how am I going to share my picture with you on future Wordless Wednesdays?
So...first vacation I went north to Nantucket.
Second, I went a bit south, to Tennessee, North Carolina and Virgina.
This time I went even further south. I am visiting the Mouse...and those dangerous aptly named Killer Whales. Yes, Orlando.

So, I read the question this morning, figured I would think about it today...and had it pushed out by dancing dolphins and pink flamingos at Sea World. But as my feet rest, I will give it a go.

Actually, I am not sure I agree with Ms. Roosevelt!
Certainly, books have the ability to arouse ideas and impressions in our minds. I mean, really, isn't that why we read in the first place? Reading, as someone said, is interactive. It presents us with these stories and these views and these creations of the author and we view this creation through our own life experience and ideas.


But see, I do think it matters what we read. I have said it before, but I repeat that like many readers, I often stay in a little cozy comfort reading zone. What is relaxing, not too challenging, not too taxing on my diminishing number of brain cells. Sure, it is important that you sift it through your own mind, but if you are sifting the same stuff..well, ya ain't going to find much different are you. And if you read junk...hey, which is fine with me 'cause junk is in the eye of the beholder...I don't know that you are going to find much of great benefit.

I think that to really have "ideas and impressions that are aroused", especially new to us ideas, we have to challenge ourselves in our reading. Read something different, read something we are not sure we will enjoy, read something we are not familiar with. And I try. Since staring this wee blog I have read many books that I know I would not have read otherwise.
The world of books contains an infinite number of experiences and views of the world, both in fiction, literature and in non-fiction..but to find that, I think we as readers have to be more daring in our choices.
At least sometimes.

Ok, enough thinking. My feet are tired and now my brain is too.
I am actually just killing time in my hotel until Castle is on. :-)