Can you stick with me to the end of this essay about National Read Across America Day?

Oh, no.

There goes some of you already.

Deciding this topic can't be interesting enough to stick with, especially when there are videos on your phone of cute dachshunds that you can watch.

For those of you who've stayed, I'm guessing you are readers.

Not because that's the topic, but because reading has conditioned you to tolerate moments that are not constantly filled with stimulus.

Developing focus is one reason we dedicate a day to promote reading for young people.

Beyond building concentration, reading excites the imagination and teaches us to manage complex ideas.

One study found that reading about experiences activates the same brain regions as actually having those experiences.

Another another study showed that imagining fictional characters journeys improves your ability to understand real people's emotions and perspectives.

But fewer of us are reading these days.

A majority of the country does not read a single book in a year.

Reading and the quality of the experience has been in decline for a while because smartphones steal our attention.

This means reading is now a defiant act.

Reading is a revolt against the forces from commerce to politics who thrive on keeping us in a partial state of attention.

A revolt against the forces who install that itchy feeling that makes you open an app, look at it, close it, and then open it again seconds later without thinking.

We used to only do that with refrigerators.

Read Across America Day coincides with Dr. Seuss's birthday, though designed for children, the day does what most of Zeus's works do, remind adults of what is important in their lives of constant distraction.