When I was little we would go to the library with my Dad and pick out some books. My Dad gravitated towards those books that Dad’s normally read. You know. Spy novels and war stuff as I scanned the Sweet Valley High and Babysitter’s Club titles for books I have yet to read. Truth be told when Enid died for consumming  cocaine at a party I vowed to never do anything like that. When the first lines came out at a party when I was 30 I still remember what I had read. Sure at 30 outside influences can convince you far faster than a book you read in your teens.

We are so lucky to live in this time with so much knowledge and experience right at our fingertips. So much has been written, researched, said, don’t we owe it to ourselves to read between the pages and take a look? The imagery that comes alive in a well written book heightens your senses and takes you away to another time, another place. Anything is possible when you read, at least to me. I have travelled to the beaches of Normandy, hid behind the walls with Anne Frank and her family and even waited for my execution as a Prisoner of War. I learned what was important to all in those in their final moments as all hopes for a future and humanity leave from their body. I have witnessed what we as humans are capable of when we don’t slow down and over inflate our worth. We are all born equal. It is our outside influences that seperate us and keep us apart.

Maybe it was the time that I grew up in but reading was a respectable hobby. Now? Well if you aren’t on your phone or reading from a kindle doesn’t that make you poor? Who reads books now a days when there is so many other ways to get knowledge instantly at your fimgertips. Who has time to read a book from start to finish these days? Life has gotten so fast that if you blink you will miss it and never will they open again. With so many tales spanning over ever genre we have first hand accounts and experiences to give us a hand or starting point in which to begin.

Imagine spending your whole life thinking you are above it all and you are too important to slow down and take in anothers opinion.  Why would we right. Who knows ourselves better then ouselves right? Rembember if it ain’t broke don’t fix it but here I am 4 decades in thinking am I broke? Can I be fixed? Is there someone, somewhere in another timeline that can provide some insight too all of this or am I truly destined to be a ball of anxiety? Imagine who we could become if we lower our ego’s and look humbly to the lives of others with an open heart? Even opening your heart and mind to another’s trauma can give you a deeper insight and perspective into your own. Especially when you open a book. The internet, although vast and easily accessible, can be easily manipulated or just a brief summary at best. I have always been skeptical of words found on the computer. Who put them there anyways?

To me a book becomes my friends. In and amongst the characters on the pages I am their silent witness to validate their truth. I appreciate the time it took to ensure their story was told to pass on what they learned to the next generation. Even books written im fiction have something to teach. If opening your eyes is not what you are looking for then you will be living with a closed heart. Don’t you owe it to yourself to live your best life instead of taking up space waiting for the inevitable to occur. Reading has been a part of my daily to do. There has been no topic of genre off limits. How do you expand your knowledge set if you close your eyes? How do you grow your passion or exude compassion for others if all you do is allow yourself to close off and become numb? In this rat race we find ourselves on we forget the most important person to consider is ourselves. That there are resources out there to help us and none of us have to go about it alone but for some odd reason we prefer the scroll on our phones than the turn of a few pages.

No matter where I am when my son asks me to read to him I stop whatever it is I am doing. I want him to love books the way I do and I hope he has a thirst of knowledge that can never be quenched.  The best way to ensure your child adopts healthy habits is to lead by example. My son doesn’t always see me reading but he does know that mommy has a book. It is usually left on the kitchen table or somewhere else where sponge like eyes can see. I have never not felt empowered after reading a good book. Whether it is feeling humbled in my existence or acquiring a new skill the journey we find ourselves on when we read takes us out of this world. I love who I become when I am taken to new idead. New thoughts, new processes, new ideas, new loves. Books have become our lifeline, identifying us as human and validating our lives and experiences. Without stories how do we tell those that have yet to happen that we were even living, that we were once here? They are witness to our testimony and will allow others to learm from us even long after we are gone. Life maybe fleeing but ours words live on. To read a good book or turn a blind eye. The path and your journey is yours to make.