All throughout school, I remember when I used to sit in class and teachers would assign us books to read. Most of the students in my classes would starting going "ugh" and "aw man," with the occasional kids who were actually excited and interested in what we were going to be reading. I was always one of those students. Even now, in college, I hear my fellow classmates talk about how they hate reading and they find it to be so boring. Hey, everyone has their feelings towards reading and writing. However, for me, it was always something I was passionate about, which that probably seems obvious considering I write for Odyssey weekly by choice.
Everyone has their outlet, or something they do to explore their inner creativity. Since I was a little girl in preschool, I loved to write. I also loved to read and was always found with a book in my hand. For me, writing and reading was my escape from the outside world. Whenever I just needed to get away from reality and distract myself from whatever was going on, I'd dig my nose into a book. I was always fascinated by the way authors could so easily take away my mind simply with words on pages. If books were written well, the characters became so real and I felt like I knew them, as if they were real people. I would imagine myself in their places, going on these grandiose adventures or living lives different from my own. Different books taught me so many things, like life lessons or just interesting facts and information I had never known before.
Writing, especially, has helped me. Not only has it been my hobby, but also my savior. I struggled with many obstacles that deeply impacted my life. Writing was my release. Whenever I had mental breakdowns, or my mind was racing and going a mile a minute, I would unleash all of my thoughts onto paper. Every word that was going through my mind would be viciously scratched onto sheets of paper, and once everything in my head was emptied onto the paper, I was calm again. Writing is truly a beautiful thing. The ability of authors to carefully and precisely articulate their thoughts, emotions, views, and ideas into words to vividly paint a picture for their readers is, at least to me, such an amazing power. Reading and writing provides so much room for imagination and allows an expansion of the mind to see things from someone else's point of view. There's no right or wrong way to do it either. Ernest Hemingway, one of my favorite authors of all time, said "there is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." There is nothing more true than that. If what you write, or how you imagine a piece of writing when you read it, fully meets your needs and allows you to open yourself up and express everything you feel inside, then you're doing it absolutely right.
Reading and writing will always be something I love and am passionate about. It will always be the thing I turn to and continue to fall in love with for the rest of my life. Of course, whatever it is that makes you feel this way, never give it up and always indulge in it. It's a part of you and makes your world seem so much better. Don't ever let go of that.
