Nice to see you again. Follow me, @SydneyOwen. Thanks for being here!
There isn’t much that is more exciting than when you rediscover something that you had almost forgotten about. Unless maybe when it seems to find you. When you least expect it to come sneaking back into your life, shaking you to the core. You are convinced you don’t have time for it. You tell yourself there aren’t enough hours in the day. But when it does happen, it’s intense. It’s all-consuming.
I haven’t sat down and really read a book in what seems like forever. I’m sure it wasn’t that long ago, but for the sake of talking, let’s say 2005. Sure, I had dabbled here and there, reading for school, a couple PR books to keep my head in check, but for whatever reason, it seems like it has been awhile since I was in that place.
If you read, you know exactly what I mean.
You have a routine. A favorite spot. A placeholder, a bookmark, a dog-eared page. Something to hold your place until you’re ready to go back.
I remember the last time like it was yesterday yet it feels like another lifetime. I was working at Disney at the time. I was in entertainment; doing parades, character dining, and town square sets. (Note to my friends who may be unfamiliar with my Disney past, I was friends with some of your favorite characters.)
There’s a lot of down time between sets. And, being surrounded by creative people, entertainers, artists and actors, there were plenty of books to choose from. Most of which weren’t my cup of tea. A lot had flashy covers but lacked an intro that hooked you. Put it down. Some came highly recommended but just weren’t interesting. Put it down.
But eventually, I found one. It was an otherwise normal looking book, no shiny and snazzy cover like you see on hardback books before they get to the library. It looked kind of like a journal, a little worn on the outside. Not in a bad way, but in a way that you can tell that was somebody’s favorite book. That someone took that thing everywhere. I think that’s what drew me to it.
You know that moment? The moment when you first realize that you’re going to read this book cover to cover. The moment where you wish you were cuddled up in bed with a blanket and a thunderstorm, with nothing but time to finish the book.
I like this moment. One, because this is the best part of this process. With books by Nicholas Sparks (or, insert your favorite author here) this part is all smiles and it’s not scary and it’s fun and it just feels… right. The point when you thought for a second that you forgot what stupid smiley felt like.
I love this part.
When you can’t, and don’t want to, put the book down. The part before complications and walls and anything besides a goofy grin and butterflies because you realize that you can feel. That you’re not frozen.
I love this part. If you haven’t read Nicholas Sparks, think of the Notebook, when they were ridiculously happy, before she ran off and fell
In love with the other guy. Unless you’re totally void of any emotion, you know what I’m talking about. It’s beautiful.
The thing is, I never finished that book. But somehow, after all of these years, I’m starting it again. I found my place, and picked it up where I left off. I had to go back and read it since a lot of the events in the story were foggy, but I’m right back at it. And it’s like the first time I started reading it.
I love this part.
So, how do you feel about things from the past that come back into your life?