Reading was an activity I used to partake as a child. I mostly read during my education years either by requirement but also leisure. However, as a teenager and young adult I grew out of my book worm phase for a new less educational hobby. The internet. From there I explored forums and virtual pet sites. Shortly after social media took off. Who remembers Neopets and Xanga? Those were the days. Eventually web comics and video games took over my life. If I wasn't in class I was consumed by a screen. To this day I spend countless hours staring at the black and white digital canvas of a computer or phone. Now in society it's perfectly normal to do what I do but back then it was considered an unhealthy addiction. Perhaps it still is and we're just okay with staring at our screens instead of each other.

You never fully realize how absorbed we are into our phones until you're at a restaurant with family or friends and all the tables around you have several conversations blurring together in a loud harmonious buzz while the people who are next to and in front of you are silently darting their eyes back and forth while a series of colors reflect off their skin. Swiftly their fingers are sliding or tapping on a screen while you're caressing the rim of your beverage overseeing the image playing before you.

While it is tempting to pull your own phone out to check that game or Twitter notification you ate aware of being the same person you were just observing. Suddenly you've gone from guest at the zoo to being a part of the attraction.

With this in mind I've decided to try and spend less time in front of a screen and more time invested into pages. I've decided to start reading again. I have a few books I've been sitting on waiting to be absorbed.