Im sorry, but this is a long rambling that requires some patience to read. :) When I was younger, I used to read a lot. I remember a time when I used to hunt around my house for books, magazines, anything basically that I could read. I read everything. And I mean everything. I turned the newspaper to every page, I read books that were meant for those both much older and much younger, and I savored classics like they were my lifesource. It was the first thing I was ever passionate about, reading. And somewhere along the line life sped up; I gave up books for TV shows and movies, things that could keep up with lifes pace, things that wouldnt eat up so much time or engulf me in a different world. I sacrificed reading for something so mundane, and it happened so abruptly that I didnt even realise. When I finally did notice that I hadnt picked up a book in ages, I felt my heart break. Id lost my passion, and Id never even felt it slip away. Reading shaped a lot of who and what I am today. So much of what I learnt came from those beautiful browned pages. The courage to dream and imagine a life much bigger than my own. I know a lot of people dont read because they cant fathom finding an experience or a journey through reading some words on paper. But thats just it, thats what drew me in. I could be in my own bed, or living room and yet be sitting in a Potions lesson in Hogwarts, living in the Annexe with Anne, dreaming about love with Emma or drifting through the sea with Pi. Id be the one shaking my head in the theatre, silently screaming The book was better! and desperately wondering why anyone would prefer a condensed, inaccurate version of a story compared to the perfect original version. It was a passion I so vehemently protected and then, suddenly, just let diminish. I started to go to bookshops, buying books here and there to try and reignite the flame I once had. But nothing worked. I read articles about how important reading is, how reading for just six minutes a day reduced anxiety by incredible amounts. Then I realised I was resorting to articles about reading to get back into reading and once again I was surprised at myself for ever letting go of something so precious. Peeking a little closer into it all, I realised everybody does this. And not just one passion, but we give up a lot of our passions because we fear we have no time for them anymore. This is absolute rubbish. If theres one thing I learnt, theres always time. When you love something enough, there is always time. At least devote time to it for what it makes you feel. How it makes you feel. That incurable hole that it heals, the wholeness that you feel. You define whats important to you by what you dedicate your time to. I shudder to think that this means I value TV shows more than I do books. Slowly, but surely, Im getting my passion back. But honestly, I wish Id never lost it at all. And I urge you to reclaim lost passions and channel them back into making your life a positive, purposeful kind of place. We all deserve a full life, and it beats me why were working so hard to empty it out.
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 15:59:50 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015