Philosophy
When you read a sentence that makes you shiver, that's your archetype recognizing itself. You carry a gold detector — your archetypal identity — into the world of fiction. When you encounter gold, the detector beeps. You don't need to name what you're looking for. The shiver tells you. Fiction is where you find out what kind of gold is yours.
Reading complex fiction is like entering a guided dream — it takes you from the conscious, controlled mind into the unconscious, with metaphor as the bridge. In that state, the evaluating mind falls away. What surfaces is not what you planned to find. It's what was already there, waiting for the right image to call it forward.
For HSPs, it's overstimulation — the real world gives their sensitivity nowhere to belong. For dyslexic readers, it's the format that keeps the evaluating mind in charge. The problem is always the conditions, not the person. Restore the conditions, and the deeper work becomes possible again.
How I design a reading experience
Understand the person — their reading history, obstacles, pleasure points, and what they most want from reading. Identify whether flow blockers are perceptual, motivational, environmental, or a mismatch in book choice.
Apply evidence-based typographic and environmental interventions: spacing, line length, TTS, syllabification, sound environment. Reduce the perceptual cost of reading so the meaning can land without friction.
Match the person to a book at the right challenge level — absorbing but not overwhelming. Prioritize pleasure. Use short-form first if attention is fragile. One flow experience changes everything.
Design a sustainable reading practice — consistent time, consistent ritual. Gradually extend sessions and challenge level as confidence grows. Track pleasure, not pages. The relationship with reading transforms.