I know a lot of avid readers. I know a lot of people who don't read at all (in the sense that they put their hands on something that once was a tree). I know a lot of people who love as an activity. I know a lot of people who don't.

I think everyone's relationship with both love and literature is an internal one. The role reading plays in your life is more about how you approach it; what your mind is open to accept, what level of curiosity you have the patience for, the trust you place in some else's words. Some people read quick and often…the people I perceive to have a real relationship with literature may read a lot, but they read in a deliberate, connective way. They treasure the process of listening to authors.

There are so many parallels to loves it's almost daunting to try and summarize them. Does the attraction of a meaningful, fruitful relationship inform the way you love, crush, date, or think about your emotional life? When you consider the massive role you have to play in any relationship you start to realize that your 'success' in love has quite a bit to do with you and nobody else. I think that's often why the minute you stop looking (i.e. get exhausted with the pursuit of that elusive, albeit attractive, 'awesome relationship'), you find yourself unknowingly reading the best damn book you've read in years.

I think that feelings are the way we can tell if something is “worth it.” Why continue reading a book that does not stir emotion (either good fuzzies or spited debate) in you? Why date someone that doesn't give you butterflies at least every once in a while (when you are beginning to date, hopefully it's even more often than that!) Why run to get your exercise if you loathe the activity with every fiber of your being?

There is SO MUCH that we do because we “have” to. Why not make your hobbies, love life, exercise activities something that moves you?