From zip lining through Chicago with the dauntless to luring unsuspecting men to their death with the song of the siren, I have lived a momentous past. I have walked the halls of Gallagher High, training to be an international spy. I have walked the front lines of rebellions, battled the mighty gods, and discovered world treasures all from the comfort of my home. Some may think I am being facetious. Others may say that this is simply impossible.
However, I know that the secret to my audacious travels lies within the written words on a collection of pages, books. Ever since I was a child, reading has been my best friend. Words have allowed me to escape from reality to a world where I am never alone. Books have soothed me through times of insufferable boredom and in times of excitement. No matter how fast the world moves, I have the assurance that my favorite novels remain eternal and unchanged.
Though the words in books don’t change, people do and with them so do their interests. My battered but an immensely loved copy of Divergent will sit in solitude on my bookshelf for the remainder of its days collecting dust until someone picks it up and can once again enjoy the words that once transported me. But for now, my once favorite books will wither as I revel in my newfound interests. My preferences have shifted from dystopian worlds and teenage romance novels to books and articles discussing the complex human mind. After reading, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales, I was instantly enamored with the idea of consciousness and how consciousness emerges from the material brain.
I constantly read articles on the debate of human consciousness that continues to captivate my interest. However, no matter how my reading material may change, my passion for words has continued to profoundly influence my life. The sense of wonder and excitement that I have every time I flip open a fresh story consumes me as I read the words “ Chapter One” in bold lettering across the top of the page because I know that I will be adding another lifetime’s worth of experiences to my collection.
