DAY twenty-four

I love books for so many reasons, but one of the defining features of my favorite books is that they can move me - take me to another time or place, show me a completely new world, make me believe in and feel love and wonder and sadness and truth. The books that can make me laugh out loud without realizing, or bring tears to my eyes, or those which boil my blood, the stories that I become part of in my imagination and feel in my own heart. The fact that words on a page can have this kind of visceral effect on a person astounds me.
There are many books that I have read over the years that have done this, and I am forever changed by the stories they tell, the people they have introduced me to, and the places they have taken me. While I love to write, I'm not a writer of fiction. I prefer to dive in to the worlds created by others; I choose to write about what I know, what I think, and what I feel. I like having a voice and hope that someday my writing can touch at least one someone the way I have been touched by the words I have read. It's honestly enough for me to just write it down and put the words out there. Sometimes all you need is a way to let what's inside out.

All of this to say, I had forgotten how incredible The Perks of Being a Wallflower is. A little heavier of a post, but honest and real nonetheless. That's another bucket list item of mine for this year: always be honest with myself and with those I care about, because being real is most important. I'll take Sam's advice, too. I'm going to "do things" and "really be there."