Lesson: Plato describes a charioteer driving a chariot pulled by two horses. The first horse is noble and obedient, representing our spirit or higher aspirations. The second horse is unruly and disobedient, symbolizing our base appetites and desires. The charioteer, representing reason, must guide these horses to move forward effectively. In our context, you areContinue reading Day 9 – Plato’s Charioteer and Your End Goal
A focused reader is one who reads with as few distractions as possible than makes the time for reflection on what has been read.
I will recommend reading at a time when your brain is optimal and just letting the mind wander a bit. Also I usually start 2 pages before so as to review and warm up
I think my Reason soul is clear to me. I want to be a focused reader to learn to retain knowledge, enjoy a different perspective on life, be a daily reader, and exercise my brain function. My Appetite soul’s struggle is reading when my brain is not optimal at comprehension, usually in mid-late evening. I want to read in the morning when my energy is good and I’m wide awake and clear thinking. In this moment, the Appetite is dominant. So, I want to make focused reading a priority in my daily reading and I need to read in the morning. I will try harder to read in the morning, with more intention, and not let other tasks hijack my reading! My goal as a focused reader is to be able to read at least 60 minutes a day for the time being. I’m hoping that duration will increase as I build the pleasure to read. I think I’ll know when I’ve achieved my reading goal when I crave and can’t wait to get back to my reading, and I look forward to reading for the day, and reading isn’t a chore anymore, and I don’t have the anxiety about my reading competence or lack thereof. I want to feel a deeper connection with reading.
I am the driver of my chariot as I move along my journey to being a person who reads well. To reach that end goal I must guide both my enthusiasm (spirit) for learning a new way of reading and my desire to pause or skip so I can indulge a distraction (appetite) in a synchronous way. Some days I really can’t wait to get to this reading experience. There are other times when I get distracted by thinking about such things as what book I’ll read for entertainment next or what’s the best highlighter brand I want to try now instead of reading with focus. My main strategy has been to listen to my inner dialogue and become aware of the pull of one horse against the other. Self-awareness while reading or thinking about reading is very important to me. Developing clearer and more accurate self-awareness in all matters of thinking and behaving is a deeply held value for me.
Since I bought this course, my intended direction is that I want to retain and apply what I read. My distraction horse wants to drive me to skip ahead in the course and get to the part where we actually take notes and apply what we are reading, but, I am pulling on the reigns and sticking to these daily lessons one day at a time. I am up to 60 minutes, and managing my distractions, but, I am not reading any more deeply than I did on day one. I guess that will come later in the course.