Gratitude: Books

Books are incredibly transformative. They take you on adventures, and leave you questioning everything. They have the power to expand your mind and change your perspective. That alone, is priceless.

I have some incredibly fond memories of reading growing up. I sat all day in the summers and read book after book. I read myself to sleep, choosing to drown myself in words over sleep.

At a very young age I was enamored with a writer’s ability to transform you. Whether they took me to a new place, through a new experience, or gave me a new perspective on a situation, I was left in awe every single time.

Reading so much has helped me develop a voice of my own. When I write, it suddenly becomes a combination of how I speak, think, and the voices of all the authors that I’ve admired. The more I read when I was younger, the more I wanted to write my own content. I cannot even tell you how many times I’ve started and stopped writing books. It’s been on my bucket list to write and complete a book ever since I was in middle school. I can’t tell you how many journals I’ve owned in my lifetime. Even though I only have 19 years under my belt, I’ve probably held 30-40 journals, notebooks, and sketchbooks. I love filling them with ideas, aspirations, sketches, and just reminding myself of the things I’ve done and the thought process behind it all.

That is by far my favorite gift to give a loved one. A journal can take you places…just like the books we’ve read. When people receive a journal from me, I want them to fill it with their hopes and dreams and inspiration. It’s a place to leave things that keep you up at night, itching you to pursue it. It’s where you should daydream about all of the possibilities. And it’s a place to remember what you’ve accomplished and where you’ve come from.

Never take the simple act of reading a good book (or creating one) for granted.