I’m a bookworm and an introvert by nature. I don’t go out
every Friday night to bars and clubs with groups of chatting, laughing homo sapiens
because I’ve never fit in to those circles. My Friday nights are spent in an
armchair with a cup of steaming hot tea, a cat on my lap, and a book in my
hands.
Books are my best friends. As a bullied kid in primary
school, I would grab a snack and a book and immerse myself in Wonderland,
Narnia, Middle Earth, etc. – and I’d be thrilled to meet up with all of the
characters in those stories, where Samwise Gamgee, Lucy Pevensie, Melanie
Wilkes, and the Cheshire Cat were equally happy to see me. In high school,
while my classmates met each other for social lunches and assembled at the
cafeteria tables with their tight little cliques, I’d sit on the floor by
myself outside my next classroom with a sandwich and a book – usually one I’d
read over and over again. I’d always be a bit startled when the bell rang
because I’d be so deeply engaged.
Now that I’m an adult – old enough to be a grandmother, in fact – I don’t
see why this should change. And it hasn’t.
Well, to quote Newt Scamander, maybe just a smidge.
As an author myself, I now can whip up my own
characters and worlds. I clap on my headphones, turn up the music soundtracks,
and let my mind wander. I create new friends. I bring in some of the old ones
to say hi. Sometimes I place my cronies from Narnia, Wonderland, Middle Earth,
Camelot, and the Wizarding World into whole new situations, and happily post my
creations on fanfiction sites to share with others like me. I’ll wake up in the
middle of the night with a scene in my head and quickly jot it down on my iPad.
My imagination has no limits, and unlike real people, it welcomes me with open
arms. I’ll never have to worry about saying something wrong, I’ll never have to
endure awkward moments. I’m free.
That’s wrong, standard people say. That’s weird. See that girl over
there? She never talks to anybody. She’s a snob. She’s always got her nose
buried in a book, dreaming of unicorns and dragons and fantasy crap. She’ll
never amount to anything. That kinda sounds like the song “Belle” from Beauty
and the Beast, and we all know how that turned out!
 |
| Screw that judgy guy in the background! |
Never curb someone’s creativity. Never tell them to keep
their feet on the ground. Their feet are exactly where they need to be. To my fellow book-reading introverts, hands up to Kindles and Nooks and leather-bound tomes with sweet-smelling pages. Be a Belle.
Happy reading,
'Becca
