Escape by Reading

I have become lost in reading books of adventure this past month - real experiences of accomplishment and tragedy of high mountaineers mostly. Sometimes I pick up a book and can hardly set it down to eat, sleep, or do anything else. It is as if once deeply engrossed in a story, reading takes me beyond any measure of time and space, freeing me from the limitations of any further need for social interaction, and giving me a ticket to escape normal reality for awhile.

When I read, I step out of time and go somewhere else completely. Whoever we encounter as we read from the pages of a book or a blog, whatever lives we have vicariously lived through their story, entertains us certainly, but we may be affected deeply, perhaps having our entire view of the world changed forever after, opening our eyes to a wholly different way to live and value life.

Writing can be the immortality that some of us seek – thoughts and words left behind for future generations to hear from beyond the grave and awaken the memory of another's life. While I write this blog sheerly as an outlet for personal creative expression and validation, once it is published who knows whose mind these words may someday impact. A writer has a responsibility to write with as much discernment as the attentive reader may one day give his words.