We open the New York Times and there are two stories — one about children suffering from malnutrition in Sierra Leone and the other about latest gossip from The Kardashians!

Which is the story that you choose to ignore?

One of my very dear friends Janet Goh mentioned in her comments that my personality is reflected in all the articles I write. I have never met her or even talked to her — and yet this is what I continue to hear from many other readers as well. I guess she is right. I am indeed what my articles reflect — sometimes too naïve, sometimes too stupid, often pretty much lost, and yet on the rarest of occasion have that tinge of wisdom.

And this is true for the stories we read as well. We always choose the stories that complement our personality.

But what about the stories that we choose not to read — what do they tell us about ourselves?

We are nothing but the stories we write, the stories we read, the stories we share and — equally important — the stories we choose to ignore!

A. Does our personality defines the stories we read or the stories we read define our personality?

If I am reading “The Essential Rumi”, it might indicate that I have a philosophical mystic bend. Or if I read “Rumi” for long enough, even if I am not a philosopher, I will acquire Rumi’s deep philosophical lens and romanticize almost everything in this universe!

Similarly, if someone is romantic, he/she is bound to appreciate good love stories. Or if someone reads love stories for long enough, romanticism is bound to be imbibed in that person.

Then how does it actually work? Does our personality defines the books we read or we end up being the person the books wants us to?

This is a classic example of “Chicken and Egg paradox”. In all this debate about what defines what —the books and stories always win! We all have come across a book or a story that has touched us, shaped us in some manner, or at least inculcated in us a slightly different perspective!

The stupid child in me always wonders if a book chooses its own readers 😃.

Remember that dialogue when Harry Potter goes to Olivanders in Diagon Alley to buy a wand and the very wise shopkeeper says — “The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter!”

What makes us a think that a good book — that can potentially impact millions of lives — is any less powerful to chose its own reader — a reader that appreciates the book, a reader that understands the soul of the book, and a reader that imbibes the message of the book.

B. But what about the stories we ignore or the stories we purposefully choose not to share?

Imagine there is a heart wrenching article about a domestic abuse survivor on the Internet which deserves to be read and more importantly deserves to be talked about and widely shared. Or a story explaining the struggles of a mental health patient and how to identify them in the crowd.

Rather we simply choose to ignore it and jump straight to the latest episode of The Kardashians.

In all of this, we become a person who knows all the latest Hollywood gossip, yet we do not know how to help a domestic abuse victim or how to spot a mental health patient.

Between the stories we read and the stories we ignore, it is the latter that has a more profound effect on the kind of human being we end up being!

Points to remember:
 — In the end, it is important that we inculcate the right reading habits, and read the right books and stories. Reading negative stories can do more harm then good.
 — There is no harm in reading the latest gossips if it pleases us — happiness is anyway very difficult to get these days. If reading any article gives us happiness, we should do that.
 — But we must also keep an insight on all the stories we are choosing to ignore.

Please share your thoughts about the article, and any particular book/story that had a profound impact on you. I love to read reflections from all the readers.
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Another insightful read from The Silent Monk:

https://medium.com/@thesilentmonk/how-i-joined-my-broken-self-and-came-out-beautifully-the-japanese-art-of-kintsugi-f3ce174d0236