Be nice.

if you've ever watched a movie with your film buff friend and chatted about it afterwards, that friend might have pulled hours more of conversation out of the same 90 minutes of screentime, and wondered how the fuck they did that - it's not raw intelligence, it's a skill that's been honed. And I learned a lot about film from talking to friends who knew about film, and reading critique by film scholars

literature works exactly the same. so if you want to get more out of your reading, there are things you can do to train that. Find a book or short story you think you've got a pretty good grasp on, preferably from a widely read & respected author like Ursula K Le Guin or Ray Bradbury (if you're new at this don't swing for the Toni Morrison or the Samuel Beckett yet unless you feel very comfortable with the complexity of the text - the point is to develop a complicated new skill on good foundations). Then go to JSTOR, create a free account, and look up criticism on the story you've chosen. Find something that looks readable to you and at least somewhat interesting. Read that article, and look at what that writer got out of the same story you've read that you didn't get. Do you see the critic's points? Did they teach you something about the text? Go reread that story and see if the criticism has changed how you read it. Are you seeing more? Are you thinking about the implications of a line that you hadn't noticed before? Does the story feel richer now?

you don't have to read more deeply if you don't want to (but i'd recommend it, i genuinely think it makes you a better person)

if you want to learn to read more deeply, the resources are out there. try to find critical literature (that is, academic writing that analyzes the text) on works your familiar with so you can get a sense for how to do that analysis too

learning to deep read literature can help you deep read many areas of your life

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no fucking way I actually logged back into this account

Here's an example of high level WCS competition. Notice the more upright posture, smoother movements, and how their directional movement typically follows the grain of the dance floor:

And here's an example of more contemporary Lindy Hop from two extremely high level dancers (this one is an instructor demo I think, not a competition so they're not pulling out ALL the stops but it is a good example of what the dance can look like at a more chilled out slower speed) (also side note I got to take a class from Breonna last year and it was honestly life changing).

Notice how their dancing is more rhythmic, even bouncy, they have a more athletic posture, and they move in every direction across the dance floor:

Now, one might be forgiven for thinking Lindy Hop is the same as East Coast Swing, and there are many perspectives on what the difference is, but historically ECS was essentially created by Arthur Murray (a white ballroom dancer) to make Lindy Hop more palatable and accessible to white people who were mainly familiar with ballroom dance styles. In my experience with both, ECS is much less connected to the Black roots of Swing dance, encourages less expression and individuality, and lacks many elements of Black dance and music culture such as call-and-response. It is also boring compared to true Lindy Hop.

Here's an interesting video discussing some of the difference and nuance: