Hit Play and Read Away

This is the Piano Guys cover of Home by Phillip Phillips. It made me think of how writing feels to me.

Reading has always been a huge part of my life. Lately, it has gotten me a job. Reading books about business, networking, and leadership gave me the motivation, confidence, and know-how to successfully navigate the choppy waters of joblessness. As a child, reading books like Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings sent me to far off places and imbued within me a sense of right and wrong. Since then I have been haunted by a feeling that I can achieve something epic. As I grew older, reading biology textbooks and do-it-yourself manuals made me feel capable and intelligent (my friends will tell you otherwise though…).

However you want to look at it reading has always been a safe place for me. It’s a resource and comfort and a vacation, depending on what I read or how I feel. Even more so, my love of reading launched my desire to write. Writing has only cemented those qualities that reading incepted (that’s a real word, I promise. Just go ask Leonardo DiCaprio) within my mind. Writing provides solace when I’m upset and a mode of expression when I’m feeling ecstatic. Furthermore, it has given me the chance to explore the worlds I created in my mind as a child.

Even more importantly storytelling is a chance to connect with other people. A story will always be more powerful than telling someone how you feel or giving them advice. I am extremely lucky to have the opportunity to tell stories and have hundreds of people read them. It is a connection I could never make without the technology of today. Something I’ll forever be grateful for.

Sometimes writing is like a home. A place where you can settle down and watch everything become clear. Storytelling is my opportunity to invite people into that home and share my experiences and thoughts. It’s a chance to reach out past those barriers we typically erect and teach people that they are not alone. These stories are a chance to remember that if you’re lost you can always be found.