incurable addiction

I admit it. I'm addicted to a lot of stuff--fortunately enough though, none of them drugs. Good food, good music, good stories. In short, the good things in life. I'm a self-confessed hedonist, proud and true.

I love books, always have, ever since I was a kid. From illustrated fairy tales to the ubiquitous Sweet Valley series to Sidney Sheldon and John Grisham and Philipin Margolin to the fantastical works of J. K. Rowling and Anne Rice and Neil Giaman. I am not merely a wide reader. What I am, rather, is a wild reader.

This is not to say though, that i devour every book I lay my hands on. If that had been the case, maybe I would have graduated with honors at every educational level I went through. Sadly enough, textbooks never held my attention for long, save for those literature books which contained the stories which I love so much.

I realize now that it is the fantasy, the intellectual journey I make each time I read, which really got me hooked into reading. Which is why I read mostly fiction, whether they be about made-up people or otherworldly creatures. In a sense, I like the way the authors make me feel stupid with each twist of the plot, and the amazement when at times I manage to predict the outcome of the story. There's nothing quite like the rush a good read gives me. It's the deep satisfaction of knowing I partook in something so great that for a moment or two, I lose all sense of reality and all its complications. Simply wonderful.

And it doesn't hurt either that I sometimes learn from them too. Not mathematical formulas or laws of science, but more importantly, lessons which helped mold me into who I am today. Would I have learned to appreciate my nocturnal nature if not for Lestat and his coven of Beloveds? I was only truly able to grasp the concept of Carpe Diem after reading Paolo Coelho's Veronika Decides To Die. That same book opened my mind to a lot of new things and made me the tolerant confidante to all my friends' predilactions, no matter how unorthodox they may be. And would I be so accepting of people's diverse personalities and various quirks if not the twisted characters the aforementioned authors, most notably Gaiman, introduced to me through their books?

But the most important thing I learned from reading is to believe. Really believe. That anything can happen, as I myself have proven, for reason or reasons which aren't always apparent at the beginning and which only reveal themselves with time. And that it is ultimately our choices that chart the course of our lives, especially if we believe enough to have faith in our own decisions.