My husband and I are right now watching a village board meeting on the community channel where the residents got together to speak their minds about an increase in taxes. There's no doubt that money is short and many valid points are being made.
Real estate taxes are going up, despite the bad market. Utility bills still arrive. Health insurance bills are way too high. The stock market is swinging up and down, too much down and not enough up, actually.
We're constantly bombarded by reminders that everyone is after our money. Not only that, it seems that everyone else is running out of money, also. I don't understand how this could have happened suddenly. It would make a good book plot to blame it on a secret cartel out to gain supremacy over the US and the world by manipulating stocks and companies. Who knows, that might be true. We'll never really know. (Please don't make any comments disparaging either political party, please, or I'll delete them in the interest of fairness.)
Why I'm mentioning all of these downers is because we do an option. There is still a refuge left, a place where we can dwell for maybe a few hours or more, a place where we can forget the real world and inhabit another one.
There are so many books waiting for us to read either on the printed page or electronically, which can take us away from our worries. Or, if you prefer to be worried about someone other than yourself, there are many books to that effect also.
Most romances have happy endings, so if that's what you want, I recommend reading one.
Mysteries can be gripping and sometimes scary, but often, unlike the real world, they tie up all the loose ends when they're through.
Science fiction gives you a complete fabricated world to explore.
Humor books are great medicine to forget your troubles.
Tell me. Why do you read? What do you read?
You make some great points, Morgan. There are places we can escape to. Like I can venture up ta Maine anytime I want. All I have to do is open a Stephen King book. I spend a lot of time in Faerie with great urban fairytale writers like Charles De Lint, Neil Gaiman, Terri Windling, Holly Black and Jonathan Carroll. Faerie is an incredibly dark place, but it's also happy sometimes, and so different than things are here. I spent a lot of time with King Arthur, and sometimes I even hang out in Middle-earth. I don't read as much romance, but I have a couple of friends from my writing group who write for Cerridwen Press and Ellora's Cave, so occasionally I enjoy their work.
ReplyDeleteI read because when I was a little girl my mom wouldn't let us sit in the house and watch television. She made me head outside with a book. At first this felt like a punishment--reading was hard work, let me tell you! But as I became a stronger reader I found that the stories inside those pages were far more stimulating to my overactive imagination than the television. I still read for that same reason today. My imagination requires it. :)
Great post, Morgan. I often question what I can do to help others. Donating books is big, of course. But a very nice lady shared a snippet of her past with me, and I've never forgotten it. Over twenty years ago she was a young mother of two, living with her family in a trailer in the middle of nowhere. One day her husband packed up and left. It was winter in Minnesota and she had nothing. It was hard, but her kids needed Christmas gifts, so she got a bag for each at a local charity. In the bag someone had placed a box with a tag reading 'For Mom' on it. The gift was a small, inexpensive bottle of perfume. Her thoughts were on presents for her kids, and she hadn't even given herself a passing thought. She sat down that day and sobbed witih joy. She still mists up remembering. Her kids are now grown, she's remarried and has a lovely home. But that drug store bottle of perfume remains her favorite gift ever.
ReplyDeleteI now get something 'For Mom' when I donate.
Cyn
I've been an avid reader since childhood and I've gone through different phases of reading. When I was younger I read almost all fiction, and then for 15 years I read almost all nonfiction. Now, I read both--which is helped by the fact that I review books.
ReplyDeleteRight now I have 3 novels and one devotional in my to be reviewed pile.
Cheryl