We are like a books

I saw this on facebook. It made me think. How true it is. When I try to think of who really knows me, the depths of me, I can’t think of anyone.

This year I am a judge for a book award. As I read through my 20 assigned books I see glimpses into the authors, their interests, their imaginations, their pains and sorrows… but it is only a glimpse- colored by my own lens.

Maybe that is why I love reading so much. A book, unlike other media, lets the readers put themselves into the story. Their personal lens makes a book intimate, unlike a TV show or a movie where the characters are embellished by the imagination of someone else.

Likewise, when I write I am drawing on my own experience. I am sharing my perspective, my lens, with the world. In the process I am building my own story.