Courtney--The Effects of Reading

The Effects of Reading

A book is not just ink on pages bound together. A book is so much more than its physical being. Books hurt, and not just in the “ouch that hurt” kind of way if someone throws one at you. I mean if you open your heart and soul to a story, it touches you and effects you in a way only words can.

When you read, you become apart of the story. Everything that happens within it, also happens to you. You are there. You become a witness to every event and you experience every second and you feel everything that happens, all because you opened yourself up to it.

With every word, you fall deeper and deeper, with every moment, you see through the eyes of someone else and with every event, you understand the world a little bit more.

When you open yourself to the gift the writer is giving you, it tears you apart bit by bit until it changes the person you once were, just by the words on the piece of paper.

Through the eyes of someone else, you experience things that are not really happening to you.

When you feel the lips of someone who doesn't exist on you, you think you're losing your mind.

When you feel the heartache from watching the person who thought loved you, kiss someone else, and you shed a few tears and now you're on the brink of checking yourself into an insane asylum.

But when you feel the bullet go through your chest as you sacrificed yourself for your fictional brother and the walls of your flood gate begin to crack and you feel the tears flow down your face and the tissue in your hand can no longer absorb your tears, you contemplate going to the corner of a dark room and rocking yourself until you can't feel your pain anymore.

Yet you continue to read...

Then, before you know it you're crying your eyes out in your sixth period Algebra II class because Hazel Grace just gave Augustus Waters' eulogy at his pre-funeral. People are staring and your teacher is looking at you like you belong at the farm and contemplating calling a psychologist to class just to calm you down. You no longer see the point in tissues because you don't see the crying to stop in the near future then congratulations! You have reached my level of insanity.

Soon, your family will stop asking you why you're crying because they already know the answer. Your friends will stop noticing if you're crying and if a stranger asks they'll say "she's fine, just give her a few minutes, she'll stop crying eventually."

When you've reached that point, I'm proud to inform you that your are officially a book-a-holic. Welcome to the club.