My favourite books and TV shows will always be those which allow me to escape to another world.
When I open a new story I start by reading the words, translating letters into thoughts in my head, mapping out physical locations, fleshing out characters and deciding if I like them or not.
Then I start to empathise, to grasp the joys and struggles and needs of the characters, to understand what's being fought over and what's at stake. Before I realise it, I'm rooting for something. In a good book I want the best for the people I'm reading about almost as much as I want the best for my friends and family.
Just like you never realise you fell asleep until you wake up, I never know I've fallen into the world of the story until I close the book and find I'm still there. I paint myself into the world behind the pages, create a parallel existence for myself where I'm a warlock or Clayr or Time Lord's companion or an air-merchant from Batmunkh Gompa. I escape to a fantastical new world not because it's better or happier than my homeworld, but just because I can.
Eventually the story-worlds I love the most become a sanctuary, somewhere to run to when things in this world are going to crap. It's as good a defence mechanism as any. Because when you can cross infinite realities in your mind, there's nothing that can really take away your freedom.
Some people indulge in sports fandom to supplement their real lives. Others fill their heads with music, or celebrity gossip, when they don't want to think about what's around them. And some of us get the strength to face the real world by stepping, from time to time, into a world of stories.
When I open a new story I start by reading the words, translating letters into thoughts in my head, mapping out physical locations, fleshing out characters and deciding if I like them or not.
Then I start to empathise, to grasp the joys and struggles and needs of the characters, to understand what's being fought over and what's at stake. Before I realise it, I'm rooting for something. In a good book I want the best for the people I'm reading about almost as much as I want the best for my friends and family.
Just like you never realise you fell asleep until you wake up, I never know I've fallen into the world of the story until I close the book and find I'm still there. I paint myself into the world behind the pages, create a parallel existence for myself where I'm a warlock or Clayr or Time Lord's companion or an air-merchant from Batmunkh Gompa. I escape to a fantastical new world not because it's better or happier than my homeworld, but just because I can.
Eventually the story-worlds I love the most become a sanctuary, somewhere to run to when things in this world are going to crap. It's as good a defence mechanism as any. Because when you can cross infinite realities in your mind, there's nothing that can really take away your freedom.
Some people indulge in sports fandom to supplement their real lives. Others fill their heads with music, or celebrity gossip, when they don't want to think about what's around them. And some of us get the strength to face the real world by stepping, from time to time, into a world of stories.
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