#dancingmind

         Reading is communication. Through written word, we can view the world through an infinite number of perspective look-outs, and experience our own lives through the lenses of others. Toni Morrison calls this the “Dancing mind” engaging with another “dancing mind” and that we must all strive towards securing the peace in which the dance is not hindered. Writing is “[offering] the fruits of…imaginative intelligence to another without the fear of anything more deadly than disdain”(The Dancing Mind), and as such, must be fought for in all places where intelligence can be cultivated.

         For me, reading is a form of communication intake closest to true communication, which would be the transfer of a thought or idea without the need to utter a sound or correlate a piece of black characters on a white field into meaning. By reading, we experience our minds thoroughfares, the myriad ways that an idea travels by, and all the intersecting pathways on which the content is carried create a multi-dimensional representation of the idea, a sort of mind-map that is unique within each of us, wherein reason and wisdom are the compasses used to properly navigate. The more experienced navigator constantly strives to expand his map, to view world after world of possibility with which they can create passages to other minds, other maps, and interweave thoughts and ideas into a net so vast and complete that the term global citizen will be obsolete, but we would all be cosmopolitans (which, lets face it, has a MUCH better ring to it anyhow).

        As the video “What is Literature for?” points out, reading is a safe vessel in which we can experience lifetimes of emotions and events, and as such, each book is a new piece of the mind-map we all have been creating since our first memory. Each book serves as a new voyage, and there is never an identical trip to be made. Try reading a book you were assigned in middle school or high school YEARS after you were graded on your first go around, and see if you come across the same ideas again. Everything we intake changes the landscape of our minds, making a re-read of a book a new experience every iteration, which is why I encourage everyone to go back and read books, not as assignments, but as a means to further expand their mind-maps, their psycho-topographical skills constantly improving as a result.

        The argument can be made that movies, music, art, food, and any other form of communication are as valuable as reading, and in the reflection involved post-intake (after watching, listening, eating, etc.) this may be true. I believe that the act of reading is unique, in that through the words on a page, our minds actually visualize the worlds being created, we don’t just SEE the gunslinger shoot the thief, but we pull the trigger; we don’t just hear the symphony from our seats, we navigate the music-sheets. While the thoughts that are created after watching a movie can interact and be used to create new ideas, they are no-where near as unique as the self-induced hallucinations that occur when one is truly enraptured by a dancing mind.