Hello. I am Tobby, a story-lover. Today, we shall explore why I love reading stories. Who knows, we may have similar reasons as to why we love reading stories, if you are love reading stories, that is, dear reader.
Reason No. 1: Stories send me on journeys to other worlds.
When I watch a television show or a movie, the story is portrayed to me as another world being shown on the television screen. When I read a manga or a comic book, the pages show me illustrated moments, and they leave me to imagine how it would be like if it were animated and voiced. When I read a novel, a poem, a short story, or any other printed form of story, I dive into a blank world, and with my mind, I recreate the text that I am reading in the blank world that I dived into. When I listen to a story-telling song, my mind works like when I read printed stories, but the range of possible images that can be imagined is wider, and then there’s the music to help me imagine more. Whatever the medium used to tell a story, stories always send me on journeys. When I want remember the stories that I like, I pause and replay the moments in my mind, like watching a movie, with my mind’s eye as the television. When I read more stories, I discover more worlds, and the significant events in those worlds are all stored in my mind, ready for recalling if I ever want to recall them.
Reason No. 2: Stories can make me feel like I’m the characters as I imagine what they feel, think, say, and do.
As I go through a story, I try to picture myself as if I were one of the characters, experiencing events like we do in reality. In the story world, I can jump from character to character, imagining what they are experiencing. I can even look at them like I was just an observer, looking at them as a ghost that they will never notice, unless the author decides to break the fourth wall.
Reason No. 3: Stories can make me learn life lessons, and I can also see, relate, and reflect on the views of their creators, making me feel like I’m getting close to the creators.
Each story has an imprint of its creator. I can see their minds and their hearts, because the creators of stories can never fully hide the imprints that they always leave on their works. As I try to understand their imprints, I begin to learn life lessons, and I can also try to connect my mind and heart to the imprints and reflect on them. As I see their views, I can decide whether I let myself be influenced by their imprints or not. I’m given a choice to change myself every time I read a story and reflect on the imprint that its creator left. When I connect myself to an imprint, it makes me feel like I’m getting close to the creator. It’s like I’m socializing with the creator, but only through the story.
Reason No. 4: Stories can make me feel experiences that I cannot experience in reality, and I can also have my wishes fulfilled in the stories through my imagination.
Having unfulfilled wishes fulfilled in the story world is what makes me feel better when I read a story. If I cannot experience a story situation in reality, I can simply imagine it in my mind, and I feel like I’m already witnessing or experiencing it, even if nothing much changes in the reality around me.
Reason No. 5: Stories can be remembered again and again for inspiration.
If I found a story to be notable enough for me, I can decide to remember it again to give myself inspiration. If ever things are going tough around me, I try to remember a good story, so that I can relax and calm down. I can also remember a good story in order to create ideas for my own stories. When something in reality reminds me of a story, my mind awakens. Stories can inspire me, and going through more and more stories makes me able to generate more and more ideas for my own stories.
Well, these are my reasons as to why I love reading stories. If you have other reasons as to why you love reading stories, if you love reading stories, that is, dear reader, then you can talk about it in the comments section.
Hmm…maybe I should talk about why I love writing stories next time…
The Overlord Bear's Den 