I'm lost in another great book. I absolutely love to read and today was a good day to just relax on the couch and page through another low energy day. I like to read for lots of reasons and I expect a lot from a book. I want to lose myself in a rich story and learn something new. I want to find myself in situations and places I've never been as well as read stories that strike a chord and resonate with me. I like to read for information, for pleasure or to be entertained. I like to learn about people and what makes them tick. Ever since I was a kid, I have used days I was stuck home sick, to read and lose myself in someone else's circumstance. I'm a fast reader so I can zip through a novel in no time at all and when I am on a reading kick I can finish a book in twenty- four hours. But it's not the speed that makes me love to read, it's that I can learn about myself and others through the stories I devour.
I believe that I can learn a lot about myself through other people's stories, whether they are written as fact or fiction. There is something about finding a piece of myself in a character that is like a mirror being held up to my personality, my circumstance or my values. I can see myself in another person's thoughts and actions as well as in the way they relate to the other characters in the book. When I see something in a character I don't like, there is often something for me to learn from that as well. As I turn the pages of whatever book has caught my fancy, my thoughts go to what I might choose if I were in a similar circumstance, or how I might perceive things differently if I were in the same situation. Some books hit close to home and I am left feeling sad or vulnerable. Other times the familiarity makes me feel content and able to relate in a meaningful way. The empathy I feel for the characters in the stories I read comes from the same place as the empathy I feel for the people in my life who feel pain or who struggle.
I might not be able to relate to the setting of a story or the time in which it was set, I may not be familiar with the details that surround the characters - it's the people in the story that I can relate to. I think I can relate because each of us has our story, and we share our stories with each other, little by little, day by day. If we are lucky we have someone who will listen. I have been writing for nine months now, sharing my fibro story in bits and pieces. I have heard back from people from all over the world, who can relate to what I experience - not just in living with fibro, but in putting one foot in front of the next, and living our lives as best we can. We share our stories with each other because they matter,. We support each other with empathy and compassion when we struggle and we celebrate our successes with a sense of satisfaction and joy. Whether it's good or bad, up or down, we share. The journey with fibro that I am living day by day, is an unfolding story that I plan to write - with a happy ending.
I believe that I can learn a lot about myself through other people's stories, whether they are written as fact or fiction. There is something about finding a piece of myself in a character that is like a mirror being held up to my personality, my circumstance or my values. I can see myself in another person's thoughts and actions as well as in the way they relate to the other characters in the book. When I see something in a character I don't like, there is often something for me to learn from that as well. As I turn the pages of whatever book has caught my fancy, my thoughts go to what I might choose if I were in a similar circumstance, or how I might perceive things differently if I were in the same situation. Some books hit close to home and I am left feeling sad or vulnerable. Other times the familiarity makes me feel content and able to relate in a meaningful way. The empathy I feel for the characters in the stories I read comes from the same place as the empathy I feel for the people in my life who feel pain or who struggle.
I might not be able to relate to the setting of a story or the time in which it was set, I may not be familiar with the details that surround the characters - it's the people in the story that I can relate to. I think I can relate because each of us has our story, and we share our stories with each other, little by little, day by day. If we are lucky we have someone who will listen. I have been writing for nine months now, sharing my fibro story in bits and pieces. I have heard back from people from all over the world, who can relate to what I experience - not just in living with fibro, but in putting one foot in front of the next, and living our lives as best we can. We share our stories with each other because they matter,. We support each other with empathy and compassion when we struggle and we celebrate our successes with a sense of satisfaction and joy. Whether it's good or bad, up or down, we share. The journey with fibro that I am living day by day, is an unfolding story that I plan to write - with a happy ending.
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