The Power of Words

                There’s nothing better than sitting down and reading a good book. What is it about reading that keeps us so entertained? A book is nothing more than jumbled words strung together to somehow make sense, and yet, it is also so much more than that. A book can be a sanctuary, a friend, an escape, and a sense of entertainment all at once. Somehow, certain people still shy away from leisure reading, which is something I absolutely cannot fathom. Books have seen me grow up, and have not only shaped the person I am today, but will hopefully continue to shape the person I am going to be.

                “I would rather buy books than food”, my English teacher exclaimed the first day I was in her class. Since then, I haven’t gotten the phrase out of my head. I felt its truth ring through me as she voiced it, and even now I feel astonished that someone else could love literature as much as I, and express it in such a concise statement. The curse of the book-lover: having shelves overflowing and haphazard piles stuffed into corners, and only having read a small fraction of the collection. The knowledge that you don’t have enough time in your life to read all of the astronomical pieces of work available to you sends a pang through your chest, but you try anyways because it would be a disgrace to the authors of the writers if you didn’t.

Without the guidance of my childhood literature, no doubt my time would have seriously been misspent. Other children were outside, galloping about in the sunlight and whooping their joys until the dusk split apart the sky; I was inside, my nose stuck in a book and my mind a million worlds away. Reading is a way to decompress, not only for me but for millions of others out there. It makes you think in ways that you hadn’t previously before. You see the world through others’ eyes and experience things that seem impossible yet feel so real when you are engulfed in the story. Nothing is better than opening a book and inhaling the smell of the printed words, anticipation rushing through you as you await the inevitable addiction about to happen.

                At the same time, opening a promising story and ending up to be so hopelessly disappointed in its potential is heartbreaking. Knowing that you don’t understand the fascination others may have with the same story. It feels like there’s something just out of reach that you’re missing, but you can’t grasp it no matter how hard you try. Part of that is also the advantage of reading; there are so many different interpretations of the same group of words, like there are always possibilities. Books inspire emotions and dreams into people in a way nothing else can, and readers love them for it.