Personal Narrative: My Love Of Reading And Writing

I am an introvert. There, I said it. I am a complete wallflower at parties, even ones that I am hosting. I prefer to hide out in a remote corner or the kitchen, whichever has fewer people near it. I have been an introvert as long as I can remember. I am no good at sports. I can’t strip an engine down and rebuild it. My social graces are lacking, to put it mildly. Small talk either eludes me or drives me crazy. But words, as long as I don’t have to say them to other people, have always been a safe place for me. Reading and writing have been my shelter in the storm of my life for as long as I can remember. I remember very little of my early childhood. I remember roller skating around our block. I remember going to Curly’s to get …show more content…
In fact, a favorite book is how I met and started dating my first girlfriend. I don’t think she was interested in the book, but it was a way that I could talk to her and overcome my natural shyness and embarrassment. As my writing progressed, I found that it was the one area that I could do well in. Papers of just about any kind, on any topic, for any class, came easy to me. I took creative writing when it was offered. That course helped me understand the power that writing had, and still has, in my life. When I write, I am able to explore different parts of my mind that I otherwise would not want to explore. I know that when I write, I can save it for just me, and that gives me the freedom to feel safe enough to explore the dark corners I try to hide away from …show more content…
Ticket to what, I didn’t know, but I did know that without words, I was lost. I discovered in college that I don’t have a head for science or math or history. I majored in theater and English. Those two complementary pursuits allowed me to explore reading and writing in different ways and for different purposes. Both fed my soul, though. I also started singing in college, and words found a new way into my life. Those formative years cemented the place that words have in my life. Whenever I can, I like to write. I don’t always write for others, but I do always write for myself. And music still moves me in a way that nothing else can.
I still use words for shelter, but I use them in a different way now. I have built up the safe harbor of reading and writing so that now I can invite others into that shelter. While we are all in that safe space, we can sit and talk, ponder life, work through problems, and watch the storm of life pass by. We all have to go back out into the bigger ocean that is life, but for a little space of time we can be safe, secure, in communion, and in