Behind the Blog 19: Literacy is as Essential As Breathing

Behind The Blog is a meme to help bloggers connect their life and interests to the content showcased on their blog. The co-hosts Faye Kathe and Melissa will provide a different topic, idea, or question every week that bloggers can relate to themselves and the books, films, or media they find interesting!

This week's theme is International Literacy Day:

September 8th was International Literacy Day. Literacy is defined as the ability to read and write by age 15. According to the CIA World Factbook currently 83.7 percent of the world population is literate. While that is a significant portion of the world population, it unfortunately doesn't include everyone. Learning to read and write is an important skill that impacts a person's entire life. How different do you think your life would be if you weren't able to read and write? Many libraries offer literacy programs. Have you every volunteered to help at one? In relation to books: Have you ever read any books where the main character struggles with illiteracy?

I couldn't imagine not being able to read and write. To me, literacy is as essential as breathing. I love to read and write and could not imagine my life without these skills. For the people that struggle with illiteracy, I imagine that their lives are difficult. Some people can get by, or use their other talents and skills to make a living, ones that don't require  as much reading and writing. Maybe they have family members or friends help them with the aspects of life that do, but I imagine that there are very few jobs that require at least some element of reading and writing. It's everywhere. You need to be able to read to drive, or to get where you're going in a new city, to fill out paperwork for a job, among so many other things. 

Because I love learning so much, and I have a passion for writing and reading, I think that my life would be dramatically different if I were illiterate. A part of me would be missing. Not to mention how much of a struggle it would be for me to make a living. I don't have many other creative talents. I'm not all that good with my hands, so I couldn't learn a trade skill, and I'm absolutely no good at sports so that's out of the question too. I'm an okay singer, but not good enough to make a living at it.

Writing this post has made me realize just how grateful I am that I know how to read and write. I know that my library has a literacy program but I haven't made the time to volunteer for it yet. While I'm still on the job hunt, I don't want to commit to it and then have a conflict of interest if I got called for a job interview or had to work and miss out on the time that I should be volunteering, so I'm waiting until I have a job with more of a schedule to work around before I sign up to volunteer.

Books and Media Tie in:

I know that I've read at least one or two books where one of the main characters struggles with their literacy skills but I can't for the life of me remember the titles right now.

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