Why I Choose To Read

I choose to read because I choose to learn. To study things I love outside of four white concrete walls. I choose to read because I choose to sit quietly in my private moments. Drinking tea or coffee or some days, a slurpee. Reading reminds me that I choose to be alone sometimes. And when I choose to be social, I can talk about the words that have shaped me. The books that have been my teachers, and the books I have wept for. I choose to read because I choose historical knowledge over pop culture. I may not know who is dating whom, but I do know who has dated whom in Jane Austen's works. I choose the past over the present. Reading is living in another soul. Sometimes you find pieces of your own soul in books. Or fragments of your past lives. The past is where we learn. The past can't hurt us like the present can. We can grow from the lessons and mistakes our beloved fictional characters made for us. Do not tell me to go out and live, I am living in learning. I choose to read because I choose print on paper. I choose to read because I chose to write.