A Readers Manifesto
I have been assembling a kind of Readers Manifesto, a crystallizing statement of what I--and I hope others--might be about; a statement that might openly invite re-interpretation and expansion, which encompasses a variety of practices, from our reading to what we do with it. Here is the outline:
- Act of Reading: Elements of it involve the private act of reading itself: engaging texts thoughtfully, entering into an equally participatory dialogue with that writer.
-
- Act of Engagement: Other parts suggest the community aspect: discussing with open-mind and heart, accepting dialogue as essential, challenging ourselves in listening, even talking & writing back.
-
- Act of Education: Still others call for us to spread the practice of this critical thinking, an acceptance of goals, vision, or intention to build communities who share an understanding of "reading," discernment, or "doing one's own research," of sharing ideas. It's a resistance to a growing practice "dis"-reading.
-
- Act of Civics: Finally, the outward expectation that texts may be made available for community to read--texts of wide and open discourse, which contest and affirm community dialogue--and that we work collectively to bring readers to these texts (literacy-building) while we bring the texts to readers (institution-building and rights to reading/education).
All of these are essential components to building better communities, and ceding any can only be a surrender to quality of life and governance by misreading (or mal-reading, or dis-reading).
I invite you to be a part of this process, of drafting and expanding and revising this outline and what follows from it, an initial goal being only a statement any of us might use for our own purposes, and one which shall surely guide Waywords Studio going forward.
And spread this invite around to anyone who might be interested!