I had a social media meltdown the other day.
Not a meltdown on social media, mind you. Thank goodness for that! This was a meltdown over social media.
I’ve been thinking about how I can reach more people with my blog. Discouraged, some days…okay, many days… over these idiotic numbers WordPress and Facebook feed me every time I open my account. Numbers of clicks. Number of likes. Numbers that represent to me — on the gray days — how few, instead of how many.
The solution, so they say, is more social media presence. More tweets, more pins, more posts, more videos.
I dutifully scroll through others’ pages to figure out how to do this thing better. Tink through Twitter feeds. Glaze over at Instagram accounts. And suddenly, everything seems utterly hopeless. All the pristine, perfectly-staged snapshots, the threaded tweets, the young media blitzers out there who have integrated every detail of their on-line presence to accumulate tens of thousands of followers. I am competing with this?
More accurately, I have no hope of competing with this. What’s more, it makes me feel mean in an Old Sneepish sort of way, this gazing at numbers. More often than not, social media is an overwhelming, soul-withering exercise for me.
So, I have a melt down. I move rapidly from being overwhelmed by social media to sheer, existential doldrums. What is the point, anyway? What do I have to say to the world that’s worth hearing in the midst of our present, shattering noise-level of nonstop messages?
The gracious small voice that answers me, does so with a question: What do you give, when you give the gift of reading?
And I know the answer to that question. At least, part of the answer to that question.
The gift of reading, of loving books, is the gift of a magnificent doorway into a rich world. An expansive world albeit a much quieter world. One that enhances our lives.
This door swings wide to reveal things we never even knew existed, acts as a portal connecting us to human thought across time and space so we can learn seemingly without boundary, be taught directly from the originators of ideas, the seers, the tasters, the handlers, hear the wrestlings of questioners, catch the insights of people remarkably unlike ourselves who may well have thought their thoughts in other languages and millennia. When we give the gift of reading, we put children in touch with ideas and know-how and experiences and insights and viewpoints far beyond our own limited ones. We give them rocket ships to the farthest reaches of knowledge, bridges to cultural landscapes we’ve never traveled, tête-à-têtes with powerful thinkers in areas of expertise we’ve never dabbled in.
Reading serves as a gateway to empathy and understanding as we meet people utterly unlike ourselves, hear their stories, some so bitter, so intense, see life from their vantage point. This gateway frees us from hedged-in viewpoints, ushers us out of the small neighborhood of our acquaintances and into other communities, other witnesses of the human experience. Sometimes these encounters rile us, frustrate us, push us to meet folks we disagree with. Sometimes they introduce us to a kindred spirit. Sometimes our new vantage points surprise us, stop us short with exquisite beauty, poignant insight, electrifying connections. When we give the gift of reading, we give access to a barrier-breaking range of human stories and voices — voices that sing and wail, remember and predict, challenge and commiserate.
Reading’s door is a passageway to a world of characters who become as dear to us as flesh-and-blood friends and who make us better people, be they a straight-talking lawyer from Maycomb, Alabama, or a house elf with a penchant for socks. What a gift these book-friends are. They understand us, articulate our pains and pleasures, amuse us, inspire us, accompany us throughout life. They are always there, unchanged by time, ready to invigorate a spare moment come what may. Reading transports us into imaginary and real places that mark us as intensely as human personalities. Middle-earth and Klickitat Street; Cather’s Nebraska and Dickens’ London. When we give the gift of reading, we open provocatively imaginative doorways .
That is part of what we give when we give the gift of reading. Teachers — blessed teachers — from ancient days to the present, keep making millions of copies of keys to that doorway so others can enter in. When we read with our children and grandchildren, when we spread books in classrooms and libraries, hospitals and refugee camps, prisons and shelters, we scatter pass-keys to rich storehouses.
orange marmalade 
The first part of your post made me want to cry. It is just so twisted and tragic that you are made to feel worth less, loved less, appreciated less, unable to compete with these many insta-posts swirling from every corner of our lives. You, who are adding such VALUE to your readers. You, who help us to enrich and enlighten and enbolden those lives that we touch. Your efforts have a rippling effect but unfortunately, one you can’t really see in action. But I assure you- you are affecting my life and my childrens’ lives in huge and powerful ways.
Because, you are so right when you turned gears toward the middle of the post- reading and books is a gift that opens up portals to other worlds and makes us all wonder and think and witness. And that is such a great gift. And one that is, tragically, becoming lost these days. The other day I was pumping gas and the gas station box had a tv on it with actors talking to me about why gas at mirabito is so exceptional and getting their gas card is such a wonderful experience. And the whole time I was pumping, I was fuming inside that there have to be voices in my head propogandizing even in the quiet of pumping gas. We are a consuming generation, EVEN WHEN WE DON’T WANT TO BE, and we are desperate (whether we know it or not) for the peace and quiet to fill our brains with IMPORTANT and valuable things.
That is what you are doing. You are being that quiet nudge to fill those spaces well. And you put your money (and your time) where your mouth is. Not just saying READ MORE! But drawing us in to a whole universe of ideas and recommendations.
I don’t say it often enough because…life…. but I am saying it now. I value and treasure this blog and thank you for taking the time to maintain it. You are being heard and you are making change. Thank you!
Thank you so much for your encouragement, Rebecca! I’m deeply happy to know of one of the places these books land 🙂 You are right — the “noise” in our world is overwhelming and ubiquitous!
Thank you for your honesty! Social media…. it’s easy to get sucked in, too. I am just an email subscriber, but I look forward to every email notification I get from your site, and I have loved every post I’ve read. I can’t believe what a wonderful resource you have put out there for us. Thank you for loving books, and for spending time curating current lists of great books for our kids!
Shinae
>
Thanks, Shinae! It’s so nice to hear from you. I love that you get the posts on e-mail, actually. I really don’t want to encourage readers to engage with social media more than they already do…kind of a weird catch-22.
Thanks so much, Jill, for the time and courage you are giving to this. Your blog is so important to our family. I admire your tenacity in pursuing a bigger platform. This work of sharing literature matters so much! I also feel like I’m standing in the middle of a busy street as I’ve tried to share my book. But, mostly, I’ve backed to the side because it takes so much courage and so much energy in an area that feels not at all my home. Your courage is contagious.
Thanks, Jen! Yes, courage is the word, weirdly enough. If we had not tried these endeavors, I think we would not have guessed how that crazy vulnerability piece is lurking! How often we have to ground ourselves in purpose and figure out which results matter and which don’t. Press on, friend!
As an aspiring children’s author who struggles with the crazy game of social media I know how you feel. It’s too bad a thoughtful and non commercial site like yours has too worry about such things, but that is the world we live in. I appreciate your reviews and look forward to your gift guides every year. There are those like myself who may not comment much, but are glad there are people who take the time to review and bring to light these portals to other worlds, or books. Thank you.
Thanks so much for your encouragement, and bon courage to you in your author endeavors! The children’s lit community is a great one, so that is one very positive piece I’ve discovered through social media.
Do not be discouraged! I love your blog and I know many other people do as well, even if your posts do not get as many “likes” on social media as others. When I started writing again and posting on my blog this summer, I knew it would reach very few people, but my prayer has always been that those it needs to reach, it will – that God will use it to encourage others. Your writing does that for me often and it has offered numerous fun, insightful, educational, and unique books to my children that I would not have otherwise found. My husband has a very popular wine blog and has commented about how Facebook has made reaching the masses difficult. They message him every time he posts to tell him thousands of people would see it if he’d spend hundreds to promote it. Thankfully, he doesn’t need their promotion, but it is frustrating nonetheless. Keep doing what you’re doing! It is a blessing to many.
Thanks, Brenda, for your encouragement. It’s nice to feel the camaraderie in this blogging world!
Great post. On grey days I’m like Sgt Clell Hazzard (James Caan) after Jackie’s death in “Gardens of Stone”: “I thought If only I could save just one. Just one.” Then on my darker days I’m like Galadriel on crack: “All shall love me and despair!” But your post reminds me of the still small feet that creep into Mordor, or the passage from Luke’s gospel – “I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.”
Thanks, William! Love the LOTR references 🙂 Yes, there is surprising power and value in small things, isn’t there. That is a good word.
Great reminder! Many of the books you recommend have found their way into the library of an International School in Thailand, a corner of the world where English books are expensive and limited. I love that moment when you help a child connect with a book. Thankful for your blog!
Thanks, Robin! And thanks for all you do to grow readers amidst the extra challenges (and extra opportunities) where you are!
You already know how I feel about your blog Jill and how much I value and appreciate what you do here 🙂 I only wish I knew more ways to reach more people who would love this space as much as I do!
Social media can be stressful and there’s so much noise out there. I am careful to curate my accounts so as not to get overwhelmed (and I’ve essentially given up on Twitter.) I wish you luck on this new step and hope it helps — I know your love of children’s books will shine through in all you do 🙂
It’s hard not to let the stats and numbers affect you, but know that you are doing something great here no matter what those silly numbers say 🙂
Thanks, Christine. I love gabbing about books with you 🙂
I love your blog and frequently get books you review for my kids. Thank you for your faithful work!
Thank you, Brandy, for your encouragement!
I LOVE what you do! I have always loved to read and, of course, loved reading to my children, but how I wish I would have had your recommendations when they were growing up! I appreciate so much your insight, discernment and humor! It would be impossible for me to keep up with all the new books that might be good for my grandchildren to enjoy. Your counsel is invaluable! Thank you for what you do. I am blessed by your work and get the best ideas for gifts. I will gladly follow you on FB, Twitter and Instagram and hope my friends and followers will join in the blessing, too!
Thank you, Adrien! It is lovely to hear of the many paths these books travel. I appreciate your encouragement!
This is a classy, informative, and fantastic blog. I have virtually no social media presence and certainly wouldn’t have found you that way. (I think I found you via a link from another blog.) Your booklists are fantastic. You have a gift for emphasizing diverse reads without being heavy handed. My family has benefited deeply from your contribution to the internet. I know it seems like U.S. society’s current “metrics of worth” are meaningful measures of our impact. But as someone with a liberal arts bent, I’m skeptical about the lasting value of such outcomes. Trust your own vocational call to continue to usher others into the presence of knowledge. This is worthwhile work, indeed.
Thank you, Rachel. You’re right — the necessity of trusting our own calling is crucial for so many of us. I appreciate your encouragement!