From Becs...
Okay, so usually I do Top Ten on Tuesdays, buuuuuut I kind of got sidetracked and ended up posting this week's topic last week and last week's topic the week before that. I have no idea where my head was at when I was writing those up. So if you want to check out The Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If I Taught YA Fantasy 101, then you can with the link, or you could totally check out this personal post below, and then go check out TTT, mkay?
I'm a pretty simple person, although there are layers to me like there are with anyone; My personality boils down to a few things. I work constantly, I read constantly, and I post about both of those things on social media quite often, because that's what is going on in my life. I mean, that is what social media is for, right? That's what I thought. I don't do it for the likes, or the comments, or the shares. I do it because I want to look back when I'm 26 (or any age, really) and see what I was reading and loving, what quotes were hitting me right in the freakin' feels, what jobs I was hating, and what was generally going on in my life way back when. My facebook/twitter/instagram is for me. But something happened the other day that I thought was pretty crappy. It still just rubs me the complete wrong way, and frankly, this should NEVER be happening to ANYBODY, no matter what their age is, just because they like something. I don't care what it is....gaming, exercising, writing, yo-yo-ing, whatever. Just don't.
Never. Ever. EVER. Say this.
This is what I'm talking about:
I posted this as my status on facebook the other day, because I genuinely love this quote and have never come across it before. (I'm actually considering it for a tattoo now.) "I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else."
That's it. A simple, lovely quote by Neil Gaiman (who I admit to never having read anything by. I know.).
This was the comment I received on that post: "Yeah, that is very good, but you also need to live in reality as much as it sucks. lol. it will only make you appreciate everything else that much better and make you that much better....sorry about my grammar you know what I mean."
You know what? I actually DON'T know what you mean. This is a comment that I heard a lot when I was younger. Maybe not the exact words, but always something along those lines. "Becca, you need to get a life", "Becca, you read too much", "Becca, you're missing out on the greatest years of your life", "Becca, you have way too many books. You should spend your money on something better", "Becca, put that book down and go out", "Becca, it's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend; you read way too much", and on and on and on. I think I can say that most of my readers have probably heard the same type of stupid comments too at some point in their life.
But here's the thing, I thought I had passed that point in my life. My family and friends, heck even random people that barely know me, know that I am a reader, and they accept my love for reading without chiding me about it like it's something to be embarrassed about. But I guess I was wrong. It's sad that anyone thinks that they have the right to go and tell someone that they need to live more in the real world, like I'm a child who still believes the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are real.
Why should anyone ever be ASHAMED about something that they love to do? THEY SHOULDN'T. If it makes you happy, then you should sure as heck do it! You don't live on this beautiful planet to make anyone else happy. Your heart and soul beat with this profound joy of *insert whatever hobby here*, and for me, it's reading.
Books have always been there for me. They have never screwed me over. They have never lied to me (okay, most of them haven't). They have never cheated on me. They have never stabbed me in the back. They have never turned their backs on me. They have been my best friends when I didn't have any. Books, words, authors, readers, bookstores, libraries, reviewers.....they have been my life for the past twenty-three years.
But just because I enjoy spending my time with books more than I enjoy spending it with other people, doesn't mean that I'm not living in reality. It also doesn't mean that I don't appreciate everything just as much as people that don't read. And it sure as hell does not mean that I'm less of a 'better' person.
I think... No. No. I KNOW I appreciate real life just fine with my nose in a book all of the time. I have lived the lives of many people, simply because I am a reader. So to counter my "friend's" comment, I would say...
I actually live more in reality than anyone I know. I live in the reality where I don't chide someone for their hobbies or their passions. I live in the reality where I've toppled corrupt governments, fallen in love with a sparkly vampire, received my acceptance letter from Hogwarts by an owl, survived the 75th Hunger Games, and so on. I think my life in this reality has been more fulfilling and enriching more than most people's, and for that, I am proud to say that I am a reader. Being a reader has actually made me a much better person. Being a reader has actually made me appreciate things that much more. But, hey, thanks no thanks for your unwanted opinion on how I should live my life. I could be out living the reality of dating unfaithful people or forgetting the real world by indulging in alcohol and/or drugs, but instead I choose to do what makes my real world so amazing, and that's reading. Sorry, not sorry.
Okay, so usually I do Top Ten on Tuesdays, buuuuuut I kind of got sidetracked and ended up posting this week's topic last week and last week's topic the week before that. I have no idea where my head was at when I was writing those up. So if you want to check out The Top Ten Books That Would Be On Your Syllabus If I Taught YA Fantasy 101, then you can with the link, or you could totally check out this personal post below, and then go check out TTT, mkay?
I'm a pretty simple person, although there are layers to me like there are with anyone; My personality boils down to a few things. I work constantly, I read constantly, and I post about both of those things on social media quite often, because that's what is going on in my life. I mean, that is what social media is for, right? That's what I thought. I don't do it for the likes, or the comments, or the shares. I do it because I want to look back when I'm 26 (or any age, really) and see what I was reading and loving, what quotes were hitting me right in the freakin' feels, what jobs I was hating, and what was generally going on in my life way back when. My facebook/twitter/instagram is for me. But something happened the other day that I thought was pretty crappy. It still just rubs me the complete wrong way, and frankly, this should NEVER be happening to ANYBODY, no matter what their age is, just because they like something. I don't care what it is....gaming, exercising, writing, yo-yo-ing, whatever. Just don't.
Never. Ever. EVER. Say this.
This is what I'm talking about:
I posted this as my status on facebook the other day, because I genuinely love this quote and have never come across it before. (I'm actually considering it for a tattoo now.) "I lived in books more than I lived anywhere else."
That's it. A simple, lovely quote by Neil Gaiman (who I admit to never having read anything by. I know.).
This was the comment I received on that post: "Yeah, that is very good, but you also need to live in reality as much as it sucks. lol. it will only make you appreciate everything else that much better and make you that much better....sorry about my grammar you know what I mean."
You know what? I actually DON'T know what you mean. This is a comment that I heard a lot when I was younger. Maybe not the exact words, but always something along those lines. "Becca, you need to get a life", "Becca, you read too much", "Becca, you're missing out on the greatest years of your life", "Becca, you have way too many books. You should spend your money on something better", "Becca, put that book down and go out", "Becca, it's no wonder you don't have a boyfriend; you read way too much", and on and on and on. I think I can say that most of my readers have probably heard the same type of stupid comments too at some point in their life.
But here's the thing, I thought I had passed that point in my life. My family and friends, heck even random people that barely know me, know that I am a reader, and they accept my love for reading without chiding me about it like it's something to be embarrassed about. But I guess I was wrong. It's sad that anyone thinks that they have the right to go and tell someone that they need to live more in the real world, like I'm a child who still believes the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus are real.
Why should anyone ever be ASHAMED about something that they love to do? THEY SHOULDN'T. If it makes you happy, then you should sure as heck do it! You don't live on this beautiful planet to make anyone else happy. Your heart and soul beat with this profound joy of *insert whatever hobby here*, and for me, it's reading.
Books have always been there for me. They have never screwed me over. They have never lied to me (okay, most of them haven't). They have never cheated on me. They have never stabbed me in the back. They have never turned their backs on me. They have been my best friends when I didn't have any. Books, words, authors, readers, bookstores, libraries, reviewers.....they have been my life for the past twenty-three years.
But just because I enjoy spending my time with books more than I enjoy spending it with other people, doesn't mean that I'm not living in reality. It also doesn't mean that I don't appreciate everything just as much as people that don't read. And it sure as hell does not mean that I'm less of a 'better' person.
I think... No. No. I KNOW I appreciate real life just fine with my nose in a book all of the time. I have lived the lives of many people, simply because I am a reader. So to counter my "friend's" comment, I would say...
I actually live more in reality than anyone I know. I live in the reality where I don't chide someone for their hobbies or their passions. I live in the reality where I've toppled corrupt governments, fallen in love with a sparkly vampire, received my acceptance letter from Hogwarts by an owl, survived the 75th Hunger Games, and so on. I think my life in this reality has been more fulfilling and enriching more than most people's, and for that, I am proud to say that I am a reader. Being a reader has actually made me a much better person. Being a reader has actually made me appreciate things that much more. But, hey, thanks no thanks for your unwanted opinion on how I should live my life. I could be out living the reality of dating unfaithful people or forgetting the real world by indulging in alcohol and/or drugs, but instead I choose to do what makes my real world so amazing, and that's reading. Sorry, not sorry.
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