A celebration of books and their power.
February is the month of love, decorated in hearts and date nights in honour of Saint Valentine. With the digital world becoming more and more entwined with everyday reality, it’s important to remember and cherish the things that got us here. Books will forever keep a special place in my heart and I think it’s important they maintain importance in society too.
There is something inexplicably magical about holding a physical book, a physical manifestation of imagination and years of hard work and creativity. Nestled between the pages are secrets to another world, another mind and another’s emotions, taking you on a journey so intimate it can never be fully replaced by e-readers. Don’t get me wrong, reading should be enjoyed however you want and if that’s through a Kobo, Kindle, or your phone then no one can diminish that. For me though, nothing compares to holding the story in my hands, feeling the spine loosen as I read, filling and overfilling my bookshelf as I cram in more and more stories and adventures. Every book I finish, a little piece of me gets left behind in its pages, it’s a give and take; those little gaps left between pages when we finish reading, holding secrets of emotion and soul from my journey.
Books have been around for centuries, at least in the form we know them of now. But stories? — they’ve been central to our society, our humanity, for millennia. Throughout human history stories have brought us closer, whether it’s a bard gathering crowds with their songs of far off kingdoms and rulers, or beasts that lurk in the dark of night; a family gathered around the heart as one of them reads a book aloud; or today as you see people finding moments of slowness in the hecticness of modern living to read a few precious pages. Books connect us to each other, no matter the geographical or historical distance.
I’ve always thought books are like windows, giving us a glimpse into another realm, like Alice and her looking glass. To me, books are a preservation of everything it means to be human — the most trusted media we have. Between their covers, we entrust our tales of love, loss and heartbreak; crazy adventures and mundane normalcy; our secrets and dreams; our history; our knowledge; our failures and triumphs. They preserve every aspect of life we value, whether it’s a world-famous novel published time and again, a textbook of knowledge, or our diaries hidden away in some secret place in our homes. Books are the beating heart of humanity, and it’s important, now more than ever, that we fight to keep them alive.
The digital world is fantastic and has brought us so many benefits and advancements, but we must remember the soul and integrity of our analogue media. As more and more books are being banned across the globe for their messaging, we have to remember why and fight for our readership. There is a reason oppressive governments ban literature, and it’s because stories hold power. Books can ignite fires with their powerful messaging, uniting people. If we lose books, we lose empathy. And a world without empathy is a dark place — something coming closer and closer to reality every day. Without the continuation of our storytelling, we are doomed to repeat the atrocities of our past, to remain submissive to the wrongdoings of those in power.
Books can be magical pockets of safety and comfort, but they can also embolden and awaken us. They are multi-faceted vessels of humanity that have stood the test of time.
So to all the books that have shaped me into who I am, enlightened and emboldened me, and encouraged us all to find empathy and fight, thank you.
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