Does Reading Make You Happier?

"I suspect that reading fiction is one of the few remaining paths to transcendence, that elusive state in which the distance between the self and the universe shrinks." (Ceridwen Dovey)

Ceridwen Dovey felt that she lacked spiritual resources to deal with death and was referred to a bibliotherapist.  The bibliotherapist prescribed the books The Guide by R. K. Narayna, The Gospel according to Jesus Christ by Jose Saramigo and The Case for God by Karen Armstrong, among others.  A writer was concerned about her fear of rejection and was prescribed Archy and Mehitabel. A woman who was struggling to balance motherhood and her painting was prescribed Notes from an Exhibition.  Today, there is a book for just about every malady.

However, bibliotherapists are not prescribing the self help types of books but rather literary fiction.  "I suspect that reading fiction is one of the few remaining paths to transcendence, that elusive state in which the distance between the self and the universe."  Bibliotherapy boils down to the fact that books provide us with a means of escape. (http://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/can-reading-make-you-happier)

Another reason that bibliotherapy works, according to Dovey is that:  "We were dedicated to fiction as the ultimate cure because it gives readers a transformational experience."  Sigmund Freud used literature during psychoanalysis.  After the First World War, bibliotherapists prescribed Jane Austen novels for veterans suffering from post traumatic stress syndrome.  The book The Novel Cure:  An A-Z of Literacy Remedies by Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin recommends fiction for a plethora of disorders (http://thenovelcure.com/about).  The authors are currently working on a children's version, A Spoonful of Stories, due out in 2016.

Given that we have more self help books than ever on the bookstore shelves, why aren't we happier?
According to Dovey, it's not reading self help books per se that helps us deal with our problems.  It's reading fiction.  Dovey explains the science:  a 2011 study mentioned mirror neurons in the brain. These neurons "fire in our brains both when we perform an action ourselves and when we see an action performed by someone else."  Therefore, if we observe a character acting in a certain manner, we have the ability to put ourselves in his or her shoes.  Dovey quoted another study which revealed that people who regularly read literary fiction score higher on social perception and empathy tests
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_neuron).

Bibliotherapists prove once again the value of reading.  Not only does reading open one's mind to knowledge, but also to empathy.  The ability to empathize can improve our relationships and can make us happier people.

https://clairehuston.wordpress.com/2015/06/11/whats-your-bibliotherapy-share-the-books-that-make-you-happy/

William Campbell's Reading Room Transforms Lives

California businessman William Campbell lost his wife to cancer.  She left one dying wish, though, and that was that her husband would open a reading room in downtown Oakdale to help the neighbourhood residents.  William complied by packing up his library of books and carting them downtown to set up in an abandonned building which he already owned.  With bars on the windows and graffiti on the walls, he was surrounded by gang members and homeless people.  But he was determined to fulfill the wish of his late wife.

At first, no one wanted anything to do with the Reading Room.  That is, until William posted a sign in the window saying "Free Soda".  Bit by bit, the neighbourhood youth trickled into the Reading Room.  A young girl wanted William to teach her how to read.  A teenage girl wanted magazines with current hairdos.  A young man wanted an SAT prep book to prepare for the exam.  Three boys wanted a computer to play computer games.  William granted each request.

A local reverend questioned Mr. Campbell's motives, fearing that he would tread on his turf, but as he got to know him, realized that the widower's reasons were altruistic.  Local gang members stole his computer and later trashed his store.  William remained undeterred.  He cleaned up the Reading Room with help from the community members who had become his friends.

The young girl was soon reading Dr. Seuss books.  The teenage girl kept him company each day as she read her magazines.  The young man studying for his SAT only scored a 900.  But with William's help he persevered and after writing the exam the second time, he scored a 1540, gaining him acceptance to college and even a scholarship.

The ultimate test was the local gang member, Javier, whom William employed after he stole something from the shop.  Would William and his books work their same magic on him?  William set down the ground rules and Javier started to respond to his attention and encouragement.  He grew to respect and appreciate his employer, as well as the books in his shop.

Made into a movie starring James Earl Jones, it's a heart-warming tale which shows how one person can make a difference.  William honoured his wife's wish of "More Love, Less Hate".  And the widower, who was never able to have a family of his own, gained a family in the process.  The inner city neighbourhood gained a strong mentor and a friend.  Its occupants gained a healthy appreciation for literature, and its ability to transform lives, yet another example of bibliotherapy at work.

http://ravepad.com/page/living-will/images/type/photo/9

Hurricane Carter uses Bibliotherapy to Break the Bonds of Prison

"Carter's spirits rose at [Victor] Frankl's words, which he read over and over.  He had always seen prison as a scourge on his spirit, not as an opportunity for growth.  Frankl confirmed that true freedom could be realized not by digging through a prison barrier but by excavating one's inner life." 

(James S. Hirsch)

Rubin "Hurricane" Carter was wrongly convicted of a triple murder in Paterson , New Jersey in 1966. He spent almost 20 years in jail, rotting away in a cell.  Full of anger and bitterness, he found himself wasting away.  He decided to do something about it.  He wrote a book about his life, a book that would make him famous, at least for a short time.  However, it did not secure his freedom, at least not for many years.

Carter figured he had two options:  he could vegetate in jail or he could rise above his circumstances, a type of "inner triumph".  One day, Carter was walking on the prison grounds when a pinprick of light appeared in the prison wall.  It grew bigger and he could see on the other side of the barricade.  "He noticed cars driving down the street, children walking to school."  Carter thought to himself:  "...perhaps the prison walls were not real.  Perhaps he could walk right through that wall."  (http://www.amazon.ca/Hurricane-Miraculous-Journey-Rubin-Carter/dp/0618087281)

Transcending the prison became Carter's mission.  "From that moment on, I decided to take control of my life.  I made up my mind to turn my body into a weapon.  I would be a warrior scholar.  I boxed. I went to school.  I began reading W. E. B. Dubois, Richard Wright." http://www.metacafe.com/watch/an-oxeeb7bJ7hbbYm/the_hurricane_1999_rubin_carter_training/ 

Thom Kidrin, a part of Carter's defence committee, started making monthly visits to the prison, loaded down with books.  Carter would stay awake for two days straight in his cell, with four or five books laying on his bed, pouring over them.

Victor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning spoke to him.  The Nazi concentration camp reminded him of Trenton prison.  Frankl's message rang true.  "Carter's spirits rose at [Victor] Frankl's words, which he read over and over.  He had always seen prison as a scourge on his spirit, not as an opportunity for growth.  Frankl confirmed that true freedom could be realized not by digging through a prison barrier but by excavating one's inner life." 

Carter devoured book after book.  The Autobiography of Malcolm X was another title which really affected him.  He requested works that had inspired Malcolm X.  Kidrin brought him W. E. B. Duboi's Souls of Black Folk, an anthology of essays on race first published in 1903.  

Carter was beginning to comprehend the redemptive power of literature, how reading a book helped put the reader in another man's shoes.  Ouspensky's A New Model of the Universe, helped Carter understand his adversaries.  The anger and bitterness, which had once held him hostage, were beginning to dissipate.  The walls of the prison, which had once seemed insurmountable, were now merely walls of concrete, not barriers to freedom.

Carter served almost 20 years in jail.  A young man from Brooklyn read his autobiography which set off a series of events leading to Carter's release from prison in 1986.  For the full story, read my post "The Power of the Pen" at http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/05/power-of-pen.html.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2014/4/21/-hurricane-cartersbiggestfight.html

  

Read Two Books and Write Me in the Morning

"Bibliotherapy:  an ancient practice of encouraging reading for therapeutic effect." (Wikipedia)

On the weekend, I attended The Word on the Street, a Toronto Book Festival.  Author Ann Walmsley read from her book The Prison Book Club, based on her own personal experience.  She weaves the tale of the various inmates of a prison whose personalities emerge once she shares literature with them.  During her talk, the author pointed out the redemptive power of literature, of how the reader, in identifying with the characters, develops empathy.  She said that recently, an Iranian judge, faced with the overcrowded local prisons, imposed a book reading sentence for a light crime. (http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/2015/09/21/lessons-from-a-prison-book-club.html)

Today, I googled the concept and learned a new word, bibliotherapy, which is the "ancient practice of encouraging reading for therapeutic effect."  In fact, the practice is so ancient it goes back to Egyptian times when the King's royal chamber, which was full of books, had the words "House of Healing of the Soul" written above the door.  

It was not until 1916, however, that the term bibliotherapy was coined when popular essayist Sam McChord Crothers wrote a piece in The Atlantic Monthly called "A Literary Clinic".  As Mr. Crothers explained:  "Then it struck me that is what literature means.  Here we have a stock of thoughts in such a variety of forms that they can be used, not only for food, but for medicine."  Mr. Crothers pointed out that reading a good book could be akin to a "spiritual event"; literature has the power to transform a person. (www.unz.org/Pub/AtlanticMonthly-1916sep-00291) 

Pioneer librarian Sadie Peterson Delaney used bibliotherapy to treat patients successfully at a Veterans Hospital in Tuskegee, Alabama from 1924 to 1953.  It is the "human inclination to identify with others through their experiences in art and literature". (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibliotherapy) 

By the 1980's and 1990's, doctors were employing bibliotherapy to treat a wide variety of disorders such as:  OCD, depression, bulimia, insomnia, emotional disorders, alcoholism, sexual dysfunction and self-harm.  As one writer titled his article about the treatment:  "Read two books and write me in the morning."  It is interesting to note that bibliotherapy is often used hand and hand with writing therapy (see http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2011/06/freedom-writers.html).

Even my husband, Rob, practises bibliotherapy.  Our basement is full of stacks and stacks of comics. The more stressed that Rob gets, the more he buys comics and the more he reads them.  They are a welcome change from the Political Science journals that he used to pour over when he pursued his PhD.  

So, the next time you are feeling stressed, pay a visit to your local library.  Sink into a winged back chair and dive into a book.  You will reap the rewards.

For more information, read the recent article written in the National Post by Robert Fulford, "The World of Bibliotherapy" at http://news.nationalpost.com/arts/books/robert-fulford-the-world-of-bibliotherapy.

http://www.3ts.ie/need-help/self-help-3/self-help-2/

    

Frederick Douglass Pens Letter to Harriet Beecher Stowe

"The most killing refutation of slavery is the presentation of an industrious, enterprising, thrifty and intelligent free black population." (Frederick Douglass)

In March of 1853, escaped slave Frederick Douglass penned a letter to fellow escaped slave Harriet Beecher Stowe regarding the plight of blacks in the United States.  Mrs. Stowe had just written and published a little book called Uncle Tom's Cabin which would lay the groundwork for the Civil War less than a decade later.  (For more information about Uncle Tom's Cabin, visit http://alinefromlinda.blogspot.ca/2012/03/uncle-toms-cabin.html.

Mr. Douglass opened his letter with:  "You kindly informed me...that you designed to do something which should permanently contribute to the improvement and elevation of the free colored peopled in the United States."  He went on to describe the social disease that blacks of his era suffered from:  "poverty, ignorance and degradation". (http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/letter-to-harriet-beecher-stowe/)

Mr. Douglass explained that the only way that blacks could conquer the disease was to be put on an equal footing with whites, "in the sacred right to the pursuit of life, liberty and the pursuit happiness." He challenged Mrs. Stowe by saying;  "You dear madam can help the masses...by lifting these from the depths of poverty and ignorance...prejudice is a bar to the educated black among the whites; and ignorance is a bar to him among blacks." 

Frederick Douglass pointed out that America had three black lawyers at the time, but it was not near enough.  Furthermore, whites refused to employ them and blacks followed the lead of the whites.  Mr. Douglass announced that his master plan to improve the lot of the blacks was to open an industrial college.  As he concluded:  "...the most killing refutation of slavery is the presentation of an industrious, enterprising, thrifty and intelligent free black population."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederick_Douglass

SS St. Louis: The Ship of Jewish Refugees Nobody Wanted

"Steaming back toward Europe, he promised his passengers he wouldn't return them to Nazi Germany and hatched a desperate plan to run his ship aground on the English coast if no safe port could be found." (http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1174272-canada-turned-away-jewish-refugees)



Canada has a history of receiving refugees from around the world.  However, our record has always been pristine.  In 1939, the SS St. Louis, with a boatload of Jewish refugees, was denied entrance into Canada and forced to return to Europe, on the brink of World War II.

It had only been less than a year since Kristallnacht, the night the Nazis descended on Jewish synagogues, shops and homes in Germany and Austria, smashing windows and seizing property. Ninety one Jews were murdered and 30,000 arrested.  Kristallnacht marked the beginning of Hitler's Final Solution.  Many Jewish families took flight.  

Captain Schroder, the commander of the SS St. Louis, felt personally responsible for the 907 Jewish refugees who boarded his ship in June of 1939.  In stark contrast to the treatment of Jews in Germany at the time, the captain ordered his crew to treat all of his passengers politely.  During the two-week trans-Atlantic crossing, the passengers ate hearty meals and listened to a dance band nightly.  The children played on the deck or swam in the swimming pool.  On Friday nights, families were permitted to hold their nightly prayers in the dining room, where Hitler's portrait was temporarily removed.

The passengers started to breath a sigh of relief, the further they travelled from Germany.  Adults told their children:  "We're going away.  We don't have to look over our shoulders anymore."  The relief, however, turned to trepidation once the SS St. Louis reached its destination.  In Cuba, authorities came aboard the ship to speak to the captain.  Passengers kept hearing the word "Manana" which means "Tomorrow".  But when tomorrow came, the response was the same.  Captain Schroder pleaded his passengers' case for seven days, but to no avail.

The SS St. Louis headed to the Florida coastline hoping America would grant asylum to the refugees. However, despite direct appeals to President Roosevelt, U.S. officials also denied the Jewish refugees entrance.

The refugees last hope was Canada.  When the SS St. Louis came within a two day steam of Halifax, Captain Schroder sent a plea to Canadian authorities to grant sanctuary to the Jewish refugees. University of Toronto history professor, along with other academics and clergy, personally petitioned Prime Minister McKenzie King.  "Much to our shame, King, who had many Jewish friends, didn't force the matter," said Lunn.

Steaming back to Europe, the refugees had lost all hope.  One passenger even slit his wrists and threw himself overboard.  "If I close my eyes, I can still hear the shrieks and see the blood," said a then six- year-old refugee who saw it happen.

While some gave up hope, Captain Schroder had another plan in mind.  Returning to Nazi Germany was out of the question.  "Steaming back toward Europe, he promised his passengers he wouldn't return them to Nazi Germany and hatched a desperate plan to run his ship aground on the English coast if no safe port could be found."

In the end, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee came to their aid.  The SS St. Louis docked in Antwerp, Belgium where the refugees were unloaded.  Some stayed in Belgium while others resettled in France, the Netherlands and England.  While the majority survived the Second World War, 254 were murdered by the Nazis who occupied three out of the four countries.

Captain Schroder wrote to the Committee on June 18, 1939, saying:  "Before I leave Antwerp, I take the opportunity to thank you once more sincerely for the cooperation we have received from you personally and the different Committees in organizing so efficiently the distribution of my passengers..." (http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27373131)  Sadly, for his humane treatment of the Jewish refugees, Captain Schroder was relieved of his command of the SS St. Louis and banished to a desk job.

Jewish refugees on board the SS St. Louis circa 1939 courtesy

 http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-27373131.

Dear Miss Breed Letters Shed Light on Japanese Internment Camp

"I was overwhelmed with joy to hear from you."
(Japanese-American internee)

Clara Estelle Breed, city librarian at the East San Diego Library, took a liking to the Japanese-American children who borrowed books.  Every week, they frequented the library, smiles on their faces.  But that all changed after Pearl Harbor.  In 1942, after President Roosevelt announced the interment of 120,000 Japanese Americans, the faces of these children became sullen.  Miss Breed decided to make a difference.

On the day that the San Francisco children accompanied their parents to the train station to travel to the camp, Miss Breed was there.  She handed out stamped, addressed postcards and asked the children to write to her about life in the camp.  Dozens of children took her up on the offer.  She received 250 letters, including one that opened:  "I was overwhelmed with joy to hear from you."  The letter continued:  "Now to answer [your questions] -- yes, we do have chairs and tables.  Father made them out of scraps of wood...But we do not have mattresses.  We use some our blankets as mattresses." (http://www.janm.org/exhibits/breed/title.htm)

The librarian was determined to make life more pleasant for the Japanese-American internees.  She visited the children in the camp, loaded down with reading materials and personal items like soap and toothpaste.  In 1943, Miss Breed also wrote articles protesting the treatment of the Japanese Americans, including "All But Blind" in the Library Journal, and "Americans With the Wrong Ancestors" in the Hornbook Magazine.

Miss Breed passed her collection of letters on to one of her former penpals, Elizabeth Yamada, who in turn donated the letters to the Japanese American National Museum.  

Note:  For more information, read Joanne Oppenheim's book Dear Miss Breed.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/267924.Dear_Miss_Breed