When I was younger, I lived in this brick house that was on top of a hill and surrounded by nothing but open fields full of cows.

I only had one neighbor, and their house was just a small square speck on the horizon.

There was no one around me that was my age, so I found ways to entertain myself.

Don’t get me wrong, I have two amazing parents and a sister that would play with me all the time. But it’s not like they could entertain me all day, every day.

My favorite pastime ended up being reading.

As cliche as it sounds, I always found reading to be its own adventure.

Reading really is an escape from the struggles and stress of my everyday world.

The feeling of the crisp pages.

The sound they make when I turn the page.

The smooth silkiness of the letters as they flow on the page.

Even the smell is calming to me.

The most amazing thing to me is that someone can meet so many characters that change or influence the way they behave and react to different situations.

Elizabeth Bennet from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice showed me that intelligence is the most beautiful thing a woman could have.

I truly believe that book plays a huge part in why I don’t really care about what people think about my appearance.

That book has also taught me to not get too caught up in negative experiences and to just laugh.

Luna Lovegood from J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series showed me how everyone has something different, but still important, to bring to the table.

Kylar Stern from Brent Weeks’ Night Angel trilogy taught me to embrace all the positive and negative things that have happened to me and use them to my advantage.

Arya Stark from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series showed me that breaking down society’s standards of what a woman should be isn’t something I should be scared of doing, it’s something I should embrace.

I can’t tell you how many times I have sought out comfort from one specific character or thought about what they would do before making a decision of my own.

I know they aren’t real, but in a way, they are.

I would never have ‘met’ the characters that have changed the way I perceive the world if it weren’t for the authors that created the books that contain them.

I truly believe that reading gives people the opportunity to learn how to handle different situations and important life lessons in a much more in-depth way than just watching a movie or TV show.