We all have stories that want to be told. Actually I believe each of our stories need to be told!

Picture: Walking today in Sunken Meadow State Park.

I chose to create this picture in black and white because it suites the energy of the day. Not sad but a moody kind of atmosphere. The tone of this picture is noir, not fatalistic just kind of quiet.

This is where all my stories start moving around in my head, the atmosphere and energy of the moment can dictate where my thoughts might take me.

I read a statistic the other day about people not reading anymore and that the average within all age groups is about 1-4 books a year.

“A world will come over you, the happiness, the abundance, the incomprehensible immensity of a world. Live a while in these books, learn from them what seems to you worth learning, but above all love them.” ~Rainer Maria Rilke

I read a minimum of about 50 books a year, maybe one a week and sometimes more. I am writing this because I am proud of this fact.

And now for the backstory: I didn’t read one book until I was in my late 20’s. I knew how to read but I was afraid of reading because of the pressure I experienced in school. I was never a “fast reader” or was able to absorb and retain what was being translated to me across those pages. So I would look at all those words on the pages in a book and go numb. I would actually feel faint and blank out, not literally but I would be vacant in my presence. I honestly don’t know how I got through school because google didn’t exist and cliff notes weren’t available for most subjects, nevertheless I graduated from various schools.

One day in the mid-1970’s I found a book by John D. MacDonald- Travis MaGee series. OOH! I was hooked and loved that there were already over 10 books in that series. Then in the 1980’s I discovered Robert Ludlum and read The Bourne Identity. I realized I liked to read mysteries and espionage. I started reading for relaxation and pleasure in my own rhythm and pace. I experience a lot of these characters as friends, allies, enemies, teachers and companions inside the covers of these books. I am connected to the authors and characters and when an author that I read and love passes on I mourn their passing because of the hours and years of connection and entertainment they have given me but also because it means that (for the most part) the characters die with them.

I have a love of books and a connection to what they offer me. They have helped me travel the world inside those adventures and expanded my imagination and desires to experience different things.

So today as I was walking and thinking about the book that I was going to “get back to” when I returned home I was struck by how the characters of this new series I am now reading (and by the way there are about 15 books in this series 🙂 )have already taken a hold of me. I am curious about them and want to see how they will develop and what they will offer me and teach me.

Another facet of my reading adventures is that it took me 15 years into this new century to read a book on a device. I couldn’t comprehend not actually holding a book and turning its pages. I felt like I was betraying someone or the library or the bookstore or the author by not buying or getting “the book” from the library.

I frequently travel and about 5 years ago I realized that I was carrying at least 10 pounds of books with me on each trip. This might sound foolish but this was a real dilemma for me. I love the feel of the book in my hands. I love turning the pages and also the smell of the books. And I also wanted to be practical while traveling. And you know what I found out ~ I actually read faster and more books now that I use a device to read. An amazing thing happened during one of my first trips where I had a book with me but many books downloaded on my device. I finished the actual book and then started reading on the device and what I realized is that I would read more slowly with the book because I knew I only had a finite amount of books with me and I didn’t want to finish them too quickly. So when I used the device it was limitless/infinite in the authors and books that I could read.

I am fascinated by a lot of things in life. And I know that this exists because of my love for reading and exploring.

What stories do you have inside of you?

Whether you share your experience here or not just know that we all have a narrative that is important! Nothing or no-one is more important than YOU!

Everything matters!

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