The happiest times of my life were when the only obligation I had was to my books. I remember the excitement I felt walking into a library, a Barnes and Noble bookstore, and my favorite a school book fair. I always felt like I was on cloud nine when I was in one of those places. My heart fluttered in complete happiness. My mind near damn about to explode, as I attempted to take in the magnitude of all the books that surrounded me. I started like most kids with “Junie B.Jones”, “Amelia Bedelia”, “Geronimo Stilton”, “Thea Stilton”, and “Diary of A Wimpy Kid then progressed to more advanced chapter books like those in the Alex Rider series, and books such as “Out of My Mind”, “The Skin I’m In”, and the most memorable one of them all “Every Soul a Star”. (Quick sidebar, I lent that book to an ex-friend but when she “lost it” I grieved the loss of it for weeks. I went through all the stages of grief, most notably the denial stage where I aggressively searched my home for it over and over again but to no avail.) There wasn’t a fraction of a second of time left for my mind to wander. A fraction of a second was too long a moment for my eyes to separate from the pages of a book. My thoughts floated out into the air where it gracefully danced with the words that glided off my tongue. After that phase had passed, I reconnected with my immense love for reading once more through Wattpad. Now, Wattpad was something else. When I found out there was an app where I could download an unlimited amount of books for free, I must’ve thought I was in heaven – book heaven. I would be reading books during class, reading books in bed, reading books on the bus, reading while walking, walking while reading. I would like to think that was where I learned how to multitask because if I had a free hand to scroll, I was reading. My friends and I eventually decided to write our books and then I not only become obsessed with reading but also writing. The book is still on Wattpad but I’m ashamed to say that although I was in high school, I had not properly grasped the concepts of grammar and punctuation. I had over 1000 reads on that book, many of which I will admit were from my friends and myself, but at the time I thought I was an accomplished writer. I’m not too sure what happened after that but I believe after encountering writer block numerous times, I abandoned my book. But not only did I abandon writing but I also abandoned my love for reading. I look back at those times, almost tearfully, knowing that my love for reading will never be as strong. I hope that one day I will be able to reconnect with my long lost love again and relive the glory days.
My Long Lost Love
- New Normal
- Trying Out New Things Is Good For The Soul
Hi Sharifa!
I love your writing – “My thoughts floated out into the air where it gracefully danced with the words that glided off my tongue” That line is powerful.
I am not a big fan of reading, but I would love to read some of your work (aka the book)! I would keep writing, whether it’s poetry, books, or screenplays – continue to explore your creative side. Writing blocks do suck and I use to get them a lot, but just write – Write without even thinking about it and the blocks will go away.
I hope you find a love for reading again!
Thank you! And I hope so too.
The ‘Diary of a Wimpy Kid’ series were one of my favorites! Did you ever read Goosebumps or Roald Dahl’s works as well?
I feel you on that writer’s block! I started writing this book that I was planning to turn into a series and I haven’t been able to get back to it. Hopefully we both can jolt ourselves back into it?
Yes, fingers crossed!