Reading and Writing

When I was about 10 years old, my family moved into a barn house in the country.

Literally. It was a house that looked exactly like a barn. It was on 30 acres of land next to a pond, and we had beautiful flower and herb gardens that surrounded our entire house. It was awesome.

My little brother and sister would spend summer days sitting on our back porch drawing pictures or writing stories and drinking iced tea. We climbed trees and made forts in the woods. We would walk to our neighbors house down the road (about 2 miles from us) and sneak under the pasture fences to get close to our neighbor's horses. I still remember making friends with the horses, whispering to them and climbing onto their wide backs with no help from saddle or bridle.

One of my favorite parts of our house was the attic. It was cluttered and dirty and hot, but it had floor to ceiling shelves that were filled with books. I would go up there and not come down for hours, and when I'd finally emerge I would be covered with sweat and dust with five new books in my arms.

It was in this same house that I started writing as well. My first few journals are probably my favorite. Reading the "serious" thoughts of your eleven year old self cannot fail to make you laugh and adjust your perspective.

I am so glad that I have spent so many hours of my life reading books and writing down stories and thoughts and events. Where would the imagination be without the written word? To read and write gives you something. It teaches you how to listen and understand and get the mood of something unstated. And writing, it teaches you how to communicate and how to understand yourself. I know my own mind the best when I force myself to write about something, because then I get the "why's" behind reasons. It forces so many more details from your mind than what a few skittering moments of thought can afford you.

I love to read and I love to write, and I think those two loves are a pretty integral part of me. They have made my imagination strong. They have shown me how to express my thoughts well. They have shown me how beautiful it is to learn.

It's a piece of me that is good, and I will carry it forward with me and keep it strong.