Luciano Szafir on reading and post-covid trauma: ‘It brought many answers’

Luciano Szafir on reading and post-covid trauma: ‘It brought many answers’


The taste for books led the entrepreneur and actor to collaborate with the distribution of books throughout Brazil and to found the institute Formando Leitores

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Anyone who saw the actor and model Luciano Szafir walking and joking about everyday life during the educational congress in Geduc last Thursday 4th will hardly remember that a few months ago he went through such difficult moments in his life. Covid-19, pulmonary embolism, 90% of his lungs compromised, intestinal perforation, use of a colostomy bag and surgery for osteoarthritis were some obstacles he had to overcome in the last two years.

Today he remembers that moment with emotion and reveals how much reading helped him deal with the consequences of the trauma. Insomnia and panic were some examples of what he was left with after his time in hospital.

“The book helped me a lot to relax. At that time I read more books related to meditation, spirituality… My family was called three times to say goodbye to me in hospital. A book is being written that will tell the most strong I had them, which were very complicated”, he says in an exclusive interview with Earth.

At the time he was fighting for his life, Szafir weighed 78 kg. Soon after, he ballooned to around 300 pounds, due to taking corticosteroids to treat the embolism.

Seven months ago, he recalls, he was in a wheelchair after undergoing total athroplasty. The surgery, performed in November, aimed to treat advanced osteoarthritis of the hip.

Searching for answers to what he was going through, he found books on meditation and spirituality, such as ‘The Garden of Emuna‘ (Chut Shel Chessed Institutionns), the comfort I needed.

“There we ask ourselves why a child suffers, the explanation why a child dies, suffers; why you are like this, why suddenly a boy who only does evil has everything and why not you… This book gave me a lot he responds and it reassured me a lot,” he adds.

The work, which he has already presented to around 70 friends, is like a “box” that he turns to when he is feeling a little down. Luciano Szafir, in fact, has developed this relationship of escape from reality with books.



Luciano Szafir, his wife Luhanna Szafir and their children Mikael and David Szafir during holidays in Santa Catarina

“I recognize myself as a character in the book. On bad days, when I feel really bad, I read, I forget, I travel. It’s nice when we are in a difficult moment,” he says.

A regular reader, he wants Brazilians to read more

The habit of reading is not new. In contact with books since he was 3 years old, when his parents read to him before going to bed, Luciano Szafir says he reads an average of one and a half books a week. Furthermore, he calmly states that currently 80% of his time is dedicated to reading.

And every book is a book for him, no matter the genre.

“If you take a look at the books I have, you’ll say, ‘Man, this isn’t written by the same person.’ Because you’ll see everything from in-depth knowledge books, to more technical books, to self-help books, literature. .. It doesn’t add up, you know? But I really like reading,” he explains.

This passion led Sasha, father of David and Mikael, to deal with the distribution of books throughout Brazil and to found the Formando Leitores institute, of which he is president. The education initiatives began in 2017, and have taken it to several cities in Brazil.

He recalls that one of the first data he found on the topic relates economic growth to citizens’ ability to read.

“When I realized this, and I knew the situation in our country, I started working at the book distributor and having contacts throughout Brazil. Traveling around Brazil, I saw the difference between a school in the North, in the Northeast, Southeast…”, he recalls.

With the institute the idea is to bring books and educational projects where they don’t reach. The entrepreneur believes that by facilitating access to children and young people, the habit of reading can also become viral among adults.

“Brazil is a huge country, where the majority of people who study in public schools have a difficult financial situation. You arrive in the homes of these people, there is only one Bible, which is a wonderful book, the oldest in the world, but for children, who need charm, drawing, history, there is none”, he estimates.

Another goal of the Formando Leitores institute is to increase the variety of jobs for people with special needs, such as autistic people and people with some type of disability.

“We try to use this data and educational projects that are very good and widespread all over the world. We have a very good team of pedagogues,” he adds.

What is the book bound in human skin that was in the Harvard library about?
What is the book bound in human skin that was in the Harvard library about?

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Dedicated to reading, Luciano Szafir also says that his friends often ask for advice to help them read more. In addition to techniques for increasing speed and ‘devouring’ more and more books, the entrepreneur, actor and model has valuable advice for anyone who wants to adopt this habit: choose a topic that they like.

The second tip is to set a daily reading goal, for example ten pages.

“‘Ah, I arrived tired,’ it doesn’t matter. Five minutes of reading I can read,” he says.

And it works. With their sons David and Mikael, aged 10 and 8 respectively (although Mika is older, as Szafir pointed out during the interview), they have already included reading in their bedtime ritual.

“When my parents read to me, at first I hated it. Then, after a while, I started to get more interested. The big trick is to look for something they like. I don’t want to impose, I don’t want to. I don’t want them to live my life. life in them”, he underlines.

Source: Terra

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