Don't Try This At Home: 2

Of course, there is a downside to writing. There are people that I hurt; feelings that are abused with a misplaced comma or paraphrased quotation. But mostly, there is the cowardice. It's so much easier to write than it is to ask the question and listen through uncomfortable answers. My words block out the sound of other people's words while I'm typing, at least momentarily. It's by far the most self-absorbed act that I could thrust onto the hemisphere.

So when I can no longer write, I read. A non-reader will never fully understand what a reader sees in books. Trust me, I've dated too many non-readers to not fully comprehend this phenomenon. They don't understand the connection anymore than I understand a connection to a video game or to sports team. When I read a book, I get to enter another person's mind for an hour, a day, a week. I inhabit their thoughts and feel their characters. They carefully construct the plot and narrative for my, what seems like, exclusive enjoyment. I, the reader. Any reader. I am both annonymous and highly unique. So, tonight, I read.