My Escape: Reading

Everyone needs an escape. A break from a reality, or in some cases, a reality check. We all have different places we can go to escape. Celebrities take exotic getaways after they wrap a blockbuster movie. Newlyweds run to tropical paradise after the stress of a wedding. Some choose the spa as a way to escape, to block out all the stresses and responsibilities the day demands of them and give in to relaxation and pampering. Others simply choose to turn on the Xbox, and get lost playing out a fantasy baseball game where they are the star. I choose a different way of escaping. While I would love to hop on my private jet, take off to Italy or the Caribbean, or drop half my paycheck at the spa, that just won’t work in my scenario. Instead, I turn to fiction.

I have had a fascination with books since I was a young girl. I used to take on the identities of the characters I was reading, because I was so sure I really was them. I used to think I was destined to be an actress, because I loved transforming myself into a different person, placing myself in a different scenario and being someone other than who I really was. As I’ve grown older, I realized that was my escape route as a young girl. Growing up in a broken home, suffering from abuse from one too many people in my life, my books and the characters helped me escape the pain, and the harsh reality I was living. I loved opening a Baby-Sitters Club book, or once I grew out of those, a Sweet Valley High book, and learn how the characters battled through. I learned some life lessons from my reading. I’ll never forget the look on my mom’s face when I pointed out to her in one particular novel that the Easter Bunny was indeed not real. But on a more serious note, I learned about how to handle divorced families, eating disorders, messy break-ups, and deaths of loved ones.

Now in my twenties, I still use that same escape route. I never did move to Hollywood to try my hand at acting. Instead I went on to business school, got an education and a real-world job, and started living a new reality. One where I hoped to start over, to forget things in my past that brought on too much pain. But my love of reading never went away. Almost two years ago, I decided to take my passion to the internet, and started my own book blog. I never expected my blog to take off so fast, and how in love with it I would be. Or how many hours I would need to dedicate to it! Reading started to consume my life as requests from authors, publishers, and agents came pouring in. But I love what I do. Each time I open a new book, each time I meet and identify with a new character is thrilling to me. Because just for a little bit, I can escape. I can become that character, feel the emotions, the struggles. I can put aside my financial troubles, my family fights, and the all-consuming question of what do I want to be when I grow up. I particularly love the genre chick lit, which seems to get a lot of flack in the industry. But chick lit is what I am drawn to. These books are often humorous and light, perfect for escaping. There are times where I simply cannot handle reading a deep emotional book. Where I can’t handle reading about characters whose journeys resemble my own. I need to get away from that, away from the thoughts in my head. And what better way to do that than a fun, and more importantly, funny, good book?

I am twenty-four, but I still couldn’t answer the question of what I want to be when I grow up. I certainly know that I am no grown up yet. I play my stereo loud, I wear too-tall stilettos, and go outside in below zero temps without a hat just so I don’t muss up my hair. But no matter how grown-up we are, how important our jobs may seem, and how time consuming our families may become, everyone will still need that escape. That break from reality, that moment of me-time. I can’t see a time where my escape route will not be a book. Maybe it won’t always be the genre I am drawn to now, chick lit. But I am sure I will find another genre to enjoy, more authors who become must-reads for me, and more characters that I crave to change lives with- even if only for a few chapters. Because that is my greatest escape.