Ritualistic

I have made a Spark of this post on socialspark.com. I will post peoples responses to this and my thoughts on it on the bottom — but you can still comment/blog about this even if you don’t have socialspark.

I thought this would be a good post to write since I haven’t written in a while and didn’t know what to write about. I think everyone should write about this subject on their blogs, to be honest — especially if they don’t know what to write about right now, like me.

What reading means to me.

I didn’t always like to read, I’ll be honest. It seemed more of a chore then anything else. I’ve role played before which required reading and I’ve read web pages and peoples text on the internet — that was fine. But books… I would look at a huge book and just sigh and think to myself “really?” and hardly ever touch one. I felt like it was something that was just endless that would be a complete bore. But it was funny because every time I would actually pick up a book or a series I enjoyed I couldn’t really put it down, and I was always delighted in the way the words would pick apart the feelings or thoughts of the characters in a way television and movies never did.

But I guess even though I enjoyed books when I was reading them I didn’t learn until a few years ago that I’d enjoying reading A LOT, if that makes sense. Now I’ll seek out books, as when before I’d let them seek out me (through friends recommendations or nagging or whatever else).

And why do I read now? And why would I tell anyone else to read? Again, the original statement was “what reading MEANS to me” …

Well I didn’t really realize it until just the other day, but when I read it’s the ultimate escape. Probably better then drugs or alcohol could ever really be. When I’m reading it feels like I am actually taken into that book. Anything in my life could be happening, it doesn’t really matter what, but if I pick up a book I’m no longer in my life — instead I’m focused on what’s going on in the book. Whenever I’m reading a book I’d rather be doing that then even talking to people. And I’m a pretty social person so that’s saying a lot.

If there’s a mystery, I want to figure it out. If something high paced is going on like action, I FEEL the excitement of it, my eyes wide on the page wondering what the hell is going to happen next. If there is interesting interaction between the characters, I enjoy the way a talented writer can set that up and the dynamics between each character and how it plays into a story. I enjoy when things are woven together in stories, just as things are woven together in actual real life. The interconnectivity of it all, and how I can sometimes relate to that in my own life. And even if I can’t relate to it in my own immediate life, it still proves my theory that in the end everything and everyone is always connected and everyone is always effected by something or someone else even if it’s only through ripple effects. It always makes me excited to see that someone else realizes this too, not just me.

My friend Aimey and I usually like to compare fiction with things that are happening or have happened in real life or with people we’ve dealt with. It’s actually really easy to do — and makes things go down a LOT easier, especially when you’re dealing with psychos and whack jobs (but that’s another post for another time). But that’s just another perk of reading as well. At least for myself anyway.

Now the point of this post? It was obligatory for one, but also because it has been on my mind. I was reading the other day and it just hit me. Reading is much more then just being bored and picking up a book. It’s about learning, feeling, getting excited about a story, wondering what’s going to happen next, seeing the mirror of the story and characters in your own life, and a number of other things that I can’t find the words to describe. Not to mention that I feel reading makes me more creative and gives me ideas.

I really just want to thank all the talented authors out there. I really appreciate all of your fine works of art. I wish I could be as good as you all one day.

And so now I ask everyone else: What does reading mean to you?

What reading means to Aimey: She said a lot of things that I didn’t say, how the characters come alive in your head. That’s all very true, and all very important!

What does reading means to Angela: She said that reading to her is about learning, but of course it would be, with a college grade reading level in only 3rd grade. I touched on this too — reading IS about learning. Learning about different realities and different things, different people and different cultures. Broadening your view.

Angela also made a good point with saying it’s like she knows the characters. That’s so true. It’s like you ARE involved and you KNOW them as much as you know people in your actual life. I agreed with pretty much everything she said.

What reading means to Arvi: From my understanding, what reading means to this person is that it’s a roller coaster of unexpected twists and turns. You never know what’s going to happen, you’ll always be on the edge of your seat as you find out what’s going on next. Arvi describes reading as a “combat zone” — something unpredictable, if I understood them correctly. An excellent point, in my opinion! I agree with them, as in that reading is a journey to unexpected places, a doorway leading into the unknown. All of what Arvi said was very true.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, August 23rd, 2008 at 7:48 am and is filed under Blogs, Books, Link Exchange, Myself. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.