Read to beat blues

Know what this is? It's a library. Every home should have one.

It doesn't have to be large. But it must be big enough to feed your mind and soul.

Big enough to expand your mind. To allow you to travel the world via your imagination. To ground you. To entertain you. To lift your mood. To educate you. To inform your opinions. To improve your life.

It seems fitting to write about reading and writing on this our country's anniversary of independence. Newspapers, plays, songs, and books helped unify the colonists and fuel their desire for separation from British rule.

Colonists weren't entirely on board when rebels dumped all that tea into the Boston Harbor. But when they read about the king's edit to expand the royal army and crush the tea party rebels, they became convinced that independence was only logical and rallied behind the Deceleration of Independence.

If you're not well read, you don't have all the facts. And if you don't read, you are at risk of being duped.

Let's face it. People lie. Corporations lie. Politicians and preachers lie. Even authors lie. That's why it's so important to be well read. And then, after thoroughly reading up on a topic, you are qualified to be opinionated. You can even write about it.

And a study by The Reading Agency found what most readers already know. There are great benefits to your mood. The agency reported:

There is strong evidence that reading for pleasure can increase empathy, improve relationships with others, reduce the symptoms of depression, and improve wellbeing throughout life.

So find books that inform, soothe, entertain, and delight. And read them.