So, for those people who know me, they'll know that I love to read. I have loved to read for years. I actually didn't like reading when I was little. They they started teaching us how to read in kindergarten, I had a lot of trouble with it. I can actually that in first grade I actually got a grasp on the whole concept, but that doesn't mean that I wanted any of it. I was more happy just playing around with my brothers and friends or watching TV and movies. I liked dreaming even. No, my love of reading didn't come until about fourth or fifth grade.
My mother had started to read the Harry Potter books to use out loud. She would read a chapter, sometimes two, a night. It was our favorite part of the night honestly. At least, I know it was for me. We were on book three or four when I decided that I wanted to read the first one. We had already gotten through it, but I wanted to reread it. I had already enjoyed the book once after all, I was certain I would enjoy it again. Three days later I had read my very first book.
To some people, the might not be a big deal, but to me it meant everything. For the first time, reading wasn't a chore that I had to do for school. It was something that I could take pleasure in. A point of joy and pride. And so, I found another book and another. Sometimes they were silly nonsensical books. Sometimes they were books that changed my perspective of how I read or thought or even wrote when I started probably a year later.
And I can't say that I remember a time in between. A time when I had to learn to love reading. The moment that I found pleasure in it, I was lost. And it's progressively gotten worse depending on a person's opinion. Honestly, I don't think that such a thing is really so bad. There is something very liberating in reading. It teaches us. Every person takes something different away from each book. Every book gives us a new perspective of the world.
Of course there are those people who say that they just don't like to read. They aren't readers.
I've always found that hard to believe. I rather like the saying: "Anyone who says they don't like to read hasn't read the right book." I guess that's just the very biased opinion of a bookworm. It's like with any hobby or great passion as the case very clearly is. We just can't believe that other people can't love the things that we do as much as we do. It simply seems utterly unfathomable to us. So we came up with the wonderful phrase: "To each his own."
It's nice. It's catchy. It's an annoyed way to end an argument. Even a preemptive way to end an argument. Usually how I use it actually, far more preferable than actually going through the comment. But I've gone off track. I'm actually really good at that and I need to stop that kind of thing.
I was talking about reading. The beauty that is reading. Some would say that reading as much as I do is an anti-social behavior. Likely half of my life is taken up by reading. I have actually been admonished for it in the past. Teachers were concerned I was not socializing enough and told I could not have any reading at school that was not school required for two weeks. It was a failed experiment. Some of us are not very good at socializing. We're not built for it just as some are not very good at sports. Some are not very good at math or science. We all have different skills.
It's what our world is built of. It is the way that we humans are. I suppose that is where our phrase to each his own is based from. As annoying as the phrase is, we also have to admit that not everyone can be the same. And what a dull world it would be if we were. We are not all meant to be the same. And I think reading can show you that. Reading is a way to escape true. But it's also a way to study people. Through books we see different perspectives, different motives, different worlds. Nothing is ever the same.
Books preserve heritages. They can be used to tell the truth or perpetuate a lie. Books are simple. No matter how complicated the plot. No matter what the twists and turns, it is always the same. You might be able to find something new with each reading, but you're not wondering if what you're reading is true or not. Even non-fiction. What you read each time is perspective. A perspective forever preserved in time that you are being allowed to see in its entirety.
What could be more glorious than that?
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