12 Days of Self-Care: Day 7
Visit your local library for a win on the seventh day of self-care
Written by Brandi McMurry
Photo by Arif Riyanto on Unsplash
Reading can do so much for your mind, spirit, and soul that it makes the self-care list at number seven.
Reading can help improve your memory as you age
A study published by Robert S. Wilson, at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, explains that reading is important for brain health and can help fight aging, specifically Alzheimer's disease and memories. People who consistently read throughout their youth, middle age and elderly years were found to have less plaque on their brain that causes dementia.
“The study found that the rate of decline was reduced by 32 percent in people with frequent mental activity in late life, compared to people with an average amount of mental stimulation. The rate of decline of those with infrequent activity, by contrast, was 48 percent faster than those with an average amount of mental challenge.”
Read to escape to a faraway land
Photo by Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
Traveling to faraway lands is easy when you're reading. Of course, it’s not quite the same as traveling for vacation, but an amazing novel can really transport you right to the scene of the crime.
Empathize, sympathize, even feel like you are the heroin character in a place where you can escape your own reality, even if for just the afternoon. Reading can stimulate creativity, motivation, and even help you see life through a different lens or perspective.
Read to learn something new
Novels are fun and exciting. Romantic, or suspenseful. Non-fiction can be just as therapeutic.
Pick up a biography and learn about one of your favorite heroes. Maybe you’ve always been interested in botany and want to learn how to garden, or a new skill. The library is rich in how-tos, academic texts, biographical stories and memoirs, old newspapers, and catalogs just waiting for you to explore.
Take a class at the library
Did you know your local library offers free classes and hosts free events?
I took a class on how to prep and rotate your garden crops each year, and it was loaded with valuable information!
Just today at my local library some of the events being hosted include:
Virtual movement and music class
Virtual book discussion: African American Experience featuring the book “Right Beside You” by Mary Monroe
Virtual Science Fiction Fantasy Book Discussion featuring the book, “This Is How You Lose the Time War” by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone.
Virtual Holiday Special Trivia Night
Virtual Ukulele Jam Session
You can often find yoga classes, author events, and even child care at your local library.
Some of the classes you can find at the library include using Instagram for businesses, Microsoft Excel and Word, or how to use an Android phone.
So on this seventh day of self-care do yourself a favor and visit your local library. Check out a book. Or five, and escape. Look at the schedule and maybe attend a class, or join a book club. Reading the same book as everyone in a group can bring a sense of community because you're all reading the same words, and traveling through the same text. Choose your own adventure.
Photo by Thought Catalog on Unsplash
