Books = Salvation

Anyone and everyone who has come into my life knows I carry a book at all times.

I wouldn’t say it’s just like someone who carries a concealed weapon, per say, but I would say it does have a similar effect. When I have a book in my purse or my tote bag, I can feel this overwhelming sense of security and calmness sweep over me like a blanket being tucked under my chin when I used to bunker down as a child.

It doesn’t matter what sort of book it is, either; I’ve carried around memoirs, everyday fiction, fantasy, poetry, and tons of other genres I can’t seem to pinpoint at this moment.  Most of the time, I carry more than one just in case I happen to finish one and need another to keep me going.

I can’t say for certain when I’ve begun to carry books around with me. Most likely, my mom would have had a picture book in my diaper bag whenever we went out into town. So, I guess you could say I’ve never been around without a book.

But that isn’t my point right now.

My point is the reason why I carry a book or two with me at almost all intervals of the day.

Books are a way for me to escape the overbearing weight I find myself carrying every day. It isn’t that I want to run away from my problems; I would much rather attack my problems head-on and slay them while I have the chance. But there are times in my life – in everyone’s lives, if you really think about it – where I could really use a break from the annoying, back-breaking, overthinking aspects of my life. When those moments come on top of me, instead of jumping on a plane and flying to some sort of refreshing destination, like the Bahamas or to Ireland, where I could sleep for at least two weeks straight, (For the record, I’ve been to neither.) I just pluck a book from my ever growing library, hunker down on the couch with a soft fluffy blanket, a cat or two, and dive into the paper-and-ink world I carry between my hands.

For me, books are a way to salvage what little sanity I have left from this cruel world. I can go into these other worlds, fight demonic woods with trees that eat people and turn them into malformed creatures with sickly green foam bubbling from their mouths (Uprooted by Naomi Novik – she’s really good!), fall in love with the stubborn men who just want nothing more than to be appreciated for who they are, and help the main characters save the day and restore peace to their homelands.

Books are the equivalent of carrying a sword, slick and primed for battle. With a book at my side, I can do anything in this world.