Despite this little beast known as COVID-19 pandemic is about to turn 1 year old, many people still feel strange when wearing masks. While wearing a face mask we can’t speak properly and we can’t see others’ mouth, so our experience of a conversation can change, especially if speaking is central in our lives (think of any public figure). Wearing a face mask impacts how we perceive others’ emotions as well as our emotions (how we feel). Because our own understanding of our emotions can also influence such emotions in a continuous feedback loop, the effect can go beyond how we feel in that particular moment.
Reading long texts has always been a daunting task to me. A rocky mountain I seldom find myself brave enough to start climbing (unless forced to). I’ve never had good reading habits, except for a few, very intriguing novels with a powerful storyline, which I could actually read quite fast. But most of the readings I wish I could get done quickly are damn hard. In the era of book-summarizing services like Blinkist, audiobooks, and “CEO reading guides,” where people invest time and money to compress time and read more, my limited reading abilities are an actual obstacle to my knowledge development. How did I change that? I don’t know if I did, but here is what I found by experimenting on myself.