The Daily Struggle
I’ve got to be honest, being a reader is so hard sometimes. We get to experience these amazing worlds that are full of magic and laughter. They are also filled with sorrow and death but that’s what makes it real. The joy and pain that I experience alongside characters astounds me. But I am always faced with the reality that I have to come back to our plain and boring world that is sadly magic-less. As I am facing some upcoming major changes in my life soon, I am continuously confronted by the striking emotion that some of my best friends in the world are fictional. It often breaks my heart that I will never get to read with Aelin or scheme with Jude and Cardan. I will never see the stars twinkle in Rhysand’s eyes or laugh with the inner circle. When I am confronted by these realities, it is so hard to see the light in this world. The lack of magic makes it often so hard to continue with hope that I will have a life that’s anything like the lives I have experienced next to these characters. I have to continually remind myself that, just as there is good and bad in these fictional worlds, there is also good and bad in our world. There is still light and laughter. We can still experience the magic if we search for it in this world. As I contemplate this huge change in my life that is coming up, I’m continuously reminded that we relate to these characters and we want to be part of their worlds because we have to search for the magic that comes naturally to them. But that is just a part of our journey. Instead of fighting real demons, we have to fight our inner ones, instead of magic, we have creation and art and all of the ways that we express ourselves.
To anyone who might find this lack of magic depressing or find hopelessness in the fact that we can not be a part of these realities, I want to give you this reminder.
You are beautiful and broken and you will be loved for who you are by someone. If that someone has not come into your life yet, please hold on and remember that the light at the end of the tunnel still exists, even if their are turns that make it invisible. Remember that nobody is perfect and that all of us struggle. I think that this is what draws us to broken characters. We don’t relate to characters because they are perfect and flawless. I believe that we relate to characters because sometimes they can be as broken on the outside that we feel inside. Our flaws make us beautiful.
I’m not sure why I felt so compelled to write this today after being silent on this blog for so long, but I do know that this is true. So if you are feeling hopeless and broke please remember YOU ARE ENOUGH. You will always be enough and you deserve love. I don’t care if you are straight or gay, man or woman, white or black, you deserve to be loved and appreciated for the brilliant soul that you are. Everyone deserves love and to be loved.
Don’t get me wrong, I love these books and worlds with all my heart and I would not sacrifice them for anything. But I find myself wishing often that I could be able to actually meet these brilliant, kind people that I read about. Since I know that will not happen, I live my life with the purpose of meeting each real, brilliant person in my life. Because, aren’t we all just characters in our own stories? Don’t all of us have lives that shine just as brightly as the characters we grow to love?
I leave off with one final thing. Look for the joy in life. Look for the bright places. There is beauty in everyone, we just need to keep our eyes open for the beauty instead of criticizing the flaws. Do you want to be the person that lights up the room? The one who accepts everyone? Or do you want to be the person who criticizes everyone and tears others down. I promise that the gratification you receive from tearing others down is short lived and is more toxic than you an imagine. However, the feeling you get from building others up and allowing them to shine in their own ways is so much more satisfying in the long run.
