About Words and Books and Thoughts
"One must always be careful of books and whats inside them, for words have the power to change us." - Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Angel.
Its no secret to anyone that I have always loved to read. From a very young age, reading books has always been something I've been good at. When I first got my hands on the Harry Potter series (granted I originally shoved them under my parents bed because they scared me) I read them all in a week. Seriously. I was in fifth grade and it was summer time and I had nothing better to do so I sat up in my room and I read from the moment I opened my eyes until I couldn't keep them open any longer until I had devoured the entire series (books 1 through 5 that is). Books have changed my life. They speak to me in a way that makes things I could never understand seem simple and effortless. They continue to teach me bravery, in speaking out and keeping silent. They encourage me to think about things that have always seemed so far out of my reach. They taught me how to dream.
Okay, okay I'm sorry I'm getting all existential on you but its all true. Books have changed me. They continue to change me. They are beautiful and funny and terrible and cruel. They make you care. They force emotions out of you. Ask my mom how many times I've barged in her room ranting about someone's stupidity or ignorance only to have her realize I was talking about a character from a book. Way more times than she is comfortable admitting. And its not just the characters that make me connect with a book (although lets be honest, tall dark and handsome males NEVER hurt a storyline) but the world that is represented in the book itself. I'm not talking about the magical worlds or anything (but if anyone hears Hogwarts needs some more students, send me an address and a wand and I will straight up be there in 0.2 seconds). What fascinates me about books is that no matter what, you are entering another world, you are entering the author's world that he or she has created for you as a reader. No two worlds are ever the same, just like no two people are ever the same. The author creates a world based on how he or she perceives it, or at least how the narrator of the story perceives it. People always wish that they could read other people's minds and through a book, it's entirely possible. You get to peek inside someone else's brain, which coincidentally means you don't have to reside in your own for the moment. And that in itself has some merit.
I can't even begin to explain to you how wonderful words can make me feel. Its my love language (I know, I took the quiz). This last month has not been my favorite of all of the months (July certainly has the top spot for being the best month out of the entire year because it is the only one that I never had to worry about school in, and you know, that's my birthday month), and it took me a good long while to mentally get myself to a place where I could move past the month from hell (catchy name no? If only it had been as warm as its name implied) and I really could not have done it without the power of words.
That stupid playground chant "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" is such crap. Granted, things said on the playground are hardly diabolical in nature, but they can definitely resonate with you for the rest of your life. Some hurtful things that people don't even realize are hurtful can leave lasting scars. I still remember things that were said to me ten years ago like it was yesterday, and I'm still self-conscious about somethings that people made fun of me for in middle school (shitzus remain my least favorite breed of dog). "Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it" - JK Rowling (I would apologize for my excessive references of Harry Potter but we all know that I'm really not sorry, like at all).
I've been reading a few books recently where the main character's life is greatly influenced by writing. If anyone has ever heard of the book/movie "A Fault in Our Stars" by the ever wonderful and brilliant John Green, I would highly recommend reading the quasi-memoir "this star won't go out" which is a compilation of the writings of a girl dying of cancer. Yes, its just as sad as it sounds, no you will never regret reading it. It is... incredible. Its so unbelievably heartbreaking actually, gut wrenching when you realize that she doesn't end up beating the cancer that takes her away from the people who love her but also, its so... real. Its refreshing to read about how a girl who is dying of cancer is just that: a girl. She talks about things that a normal, non-sick teenager talks about. She is concerned about boys and she reads silly books and talks to her friends and draws doodles on her notebook. She is Ester, not Ester the girl with cancer. Although her circumstances are not ideal, she never once loses herself to the sickness. I guess she did beat cancer, in more ways that I generally considered and she left all of us with her thoughts and stories of her life in her own perfect words.
"In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how greatly you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you." - Buddha
I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my life, both career and otherwise, and all I know is that I want to leave something behind when its my turn to leave this earth. I have always been drawn to the helping professions, teacher, youth pastor, doctor (although that was before I realized being a doctor was more than putting a stethoscope up to your stuffed animal's chest to check for his heartbeat). I know I want to help people and I know I want to do it in a way that ignites the passion inside my heart. Words have, for the most part, been my easiest and most efficient source of expression. I'm afraid that sometimes I may have left scars in my wake, I know I was not the kindest of children growing up and my talent for picking out just the right phrases have in fact caused some damage but what is the point to being on this earth for a hundred or so odd years if not to improve. So this is me, doing my best with what I have in the moment, pushing forward to be something better, picking up another book to learn something else about myself, writing down my thoughts in a journal I bought five years ago in a book store in New Orleans that is literally falling apart in my hands.
Words have the power to change us for sure, but they also have to power to define us, to anchor us. They are the most universal way of expressing ourselves and through only 26 letters (in English at least, that doesn't even count on the other letters used in other languages!) rearranged in infinitely diverse ways, we have our entire existence ready for cataloging.
Its no secret to anyone that I have always loved to read. From a very young age, reading books has always been something I've been good at. When I first got my hands on the Harry Potter series (granted I originally shoved them under my parents bed because they scared me) I read them all in a week. Seriously. I was in fifth grade and it was summer time and I had nothing better to do so I sat up in my room and I read from the moment I opened my eyes until I couldn't keep them open any longer until I had devoured the entire series (books 1 through 5 that is). Books have changed my life. They speak to me in a way that makes things I could never understand seem simple and effortless. They continue to teach me bravery, in speaking out and keeping silent. They encourage me to think about things that have always seemed so far out of my reach. They taught me how to dream.
Okay, okay I'm sorry I'm getting all existential on you but its all true. Books have changed me. They continue to change me. They are beautiful and funny and terrible and cruel. They make you care. They force emotions out of you. Ask my mom how many times I've barged in her room ranting about someone's stupidity or ignorance only to have her realize I was talking about a character from a book. Way more times than she is comfortable admitting. And its not just the characters that make me connect with a book (although lets be honest, tall dark and handsome males NEVER hurt a storyline) but the world that is represented in the book itself. I'm not talking about the magical worlds or anything (but if anyone hears Hogwarts needs some more students, send me an address and a wand and I will straight up be there in 0.2 seconds). What fascinates me about books is that no matter what, you are entering another world, you are entering the author's world that he or she has created for you as a reader. No two worlds are ever the same, just like no two people are ever the same. The author creates a world based on how he or she perceives it, or at least how the narrator of the story perceives it. People always wish that they could read other people's minds and through a book, it's entirely possible. You get to peek inside someone else's brain, which coincidentally means you don't have to reside in your own for the moment. And that in itself has some merit.
I can't even begin to explain to you how wonderful words can make me feel. Its my love language (I know, I took the quiz). This last month has not been my favorite of all of the months (July certainly has the top spot for being the best month out of the entire year because it is the only one that I never had to worry about school in, and you know, that's my birthday month), and it took me a good long while to mentally get myself to a place where I could move past the month from hell (catchy name no? If only it had been as warm as its name implied) and I really could not have done it without the power of words.
That stupid playground chant "sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me" is such crap. Granted, things said on the playground are hardly diabolical in nature, but they can definitely resonate with you for the rest of your life. Some hurtful things that people don't even realize are hurtful can leave lasting scars. I still remember things that were said to me ten years ago like it was yesterday, and I'm still self-conscious about somethings that people made fun of me for in middle school (shitzus remain my least favorite breed of dog). "Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic, capable of both inflicting injury, and remedying it" - JK Rowling (I would apologize for my excessive references of Harry Potter but we all know that I'm really not sorry, like at all).
I've been reading a few books recently where the main character's life is greatly influenced by writing. If anyone has ever heard of the book/movie "A Fault in Our Stars" by the ever wonderful and brilliant John Green, I would highly recommend reading the quasi-memoir "this star won't go out" which is a compilation of the writings of a girl dying of cancer. Yes, its just as sad as it sounds, no you will never regret reading it. It is... incredible. Its so unbelievably heartbreaking actually, gut wrenching when you realize that she doesn't end up beating the cancer that takes her away from the people who love her but also, its so... real. Its refreshing to read about how a girl who is dying of cancer is just that: a girl. She talks about things that a normal, non-sick teenager talks about. She is concerned about boys and she reads silly books and talks to her friends and draws doodles on her notebook. She is Ester, not Ester the girl with cancer. Although her circumstances are not ideal, she never once loses herself to the sickness. I guess she did beat cancer, in more ways that I generally considered and she left all of us with her thoughts and stories of her life in her own perfect words.
"In the end, only three things matter: how much you loved, how greatly you lived, and how gracefully you let go of things not meant for you." - Buddha
I've been thinking a lot lately about what I want to do with my life, both career and otherwise, and all I know is that I want to leave something behind when its my turn to leave this earth. I have always been drawn to the helping professions, teacher, youth pastor, doctor (although that was before I realized being a doctor was more than putting a stethoscope up to your stuffed animal's chest to check for his heartbeat). I know I want to help people and I know I want to do it in a way that ignites the passion inside my heart. Words have, for the most part, been my easiest and most efficient source of expression. I'm afraid that sometimes I may have left scars in my wake, I know I was not the kindest of children growing up and my talent for picking out just the right phrases have in fact caused some damage but what is the point to being on this earth for a hundred or so odd years if not to improve. So this is me, doing my best with what I have in the moment, pushing forward to be something better, picking up another book to learn something else about myself, writing down my thoughts in a journal I bought five years ago in a book store in New Orleans that is literally falling apart in my hands.
Words have the power to change us for sure, but they also have to power to define us, to anchor us. They are the most universal way of expressing ourselves and through only 26 letters (in English at least, that doesn't even count on the other letters used in other languages!) rearranged in infinitely diverse ways, we have our entire existence ready for cataloging.
-Shel Silverstein
Cheers :)
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