Don't get me wrong my dearest follower and friend....I am, was and will be for as long as I live a bookworm myself. Books offer one of the best ways for you to get a wild imagination, or develop one, get to know different worlds and heroes and escape into them whenever you wish as well as be whoever you want to be! There is always this standard set of characters and you get to choose which side you are one, who is your most favorite hero or character and so on. An other way, at least for me, have been also the big screen and the movies in general. Even if they have been books before that. Nevertheless, that is a great feeling and that's that...BUT....
"The world is not in your books and maps. It's out there." ~ Gandalf, The Hobbit.
I guess this single sentence should say a lot by itself and you, as a clever person you are, should understand its wonderful meaning. However, let me ellaborate....
In the Hobbit (both the book and the excellent movie directed by Peter Jackson with a great cast for the main and not only roles), Bilbo Baggins of Bag End is a young respectable hobbit, with an excellent reputation and a peaceful life. Indeed, he comes from a long line of two hobbit families, both being, however, different. As a young hobbit, he acted more like a Took, being curious of the world, but now acting more like a true Baggins. He lives in the Shire, the small village of hobbits, creatures which are furthered explained in the books. Just like every other hobbit, he prefers the good meals of his day, his pipe and garden as well as his books and maps. He never actually had an adventure and neither did he consider running off in the wild to chase random monsters and treasures. On the contrary...he despises them. As he states himself: "We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!". And to begin with, he is quite right at that! However, with the decision of a wise wizard known as Gandalf the Grey, he does end up taking part in one. A great adventure which changed him and by the moment he returned to his comfortable home for his books, maps and garden, he was not the same hobbit anymore in many ways and for many of his friends and neighbors.
It is not a bad thing...Going on an adventure. Just like Bilbo. The world is indeed not only what we read or hear about in the news and the radio. Most of the time, especially in the latter, you will listen about the bad events and at some point, these will get you down and in a bad mood so you will go on, mumbling and making plans for your own good. Those are not that bad but...take some time off and get to know the world. Going on an adventure doesn't have to be a long unexpected journey like Bilbo's.. It can be a simple trip to a friend, a road trip, a ride with your bicycle towards a destination which is out of the usual one. It can be a day to the local fan park with good friends, the movies or the one month summer break of yours spent in a small, cheap hotel in an island without you caring about too many things, but seeing that you enjoy yourself in every single way and you get that break needed. Adventures can be many and they are different from one person to the other. Kids wish to play a game of Cowboys and Indians or explore the park in their neighborhood and that is an adventure for them. For you, at the age you are or the age I am, a simple walk or a few hours off to enjoy an icecream can be an adventure. Sometimes, you might even have to force yourself out of the door and make those few hours of free time, enjoyable. That is actually a must because it's also good for your own social life and health! So get a life! Go out! Have fun! Meet up with friends or make friends! Speak to people and communicate! See the world the way you want and not the way others want you to see it or live!!
As we grow older and especially in our times and world, we become people with a load of responsibilities. Work, families....those two things turn up to be the most important for all of us because families are great to have (unless you prefer otherwise), and work offers a good or at least decent income to raise a family and support it. Right? I get it. In the end, we realize that we have less time to read, less time to put on a movie, less time to meet up with friends and that is because we are tired. Even though I am still young enough to have plenty of energy inside me, I can see this tiredness in my mother and father. I can tell that they wish they could get away and enjoy their summer without worrying about a thousand things for the day they return or what they are going to find when they arrive at our countryhouse. Believe it or not, summer time is not always that peaceful like others describe...Unless you get into a hotel and everything is payed and you got a roof over your head for the night as well as a swimming pool or a beach with a beach chair and an umbrella, cocktails served to you and delicious lunch for a month...Let's be realistic, no matter how dreamy this sounds.
The world will never be what you read in the books. Middle Earth, Hogwarts, Camp Half Blood, Narnia will never ever exist in real. I am sorry to inform you and disappoint you. They will be there, in your own imagination and in the pages to welcome you back and make you feel at home. That is the truth. So grad that book if you wish after a hard day of work or school, read every single word over and over again but remember.... Taking some time off, closing this book, putting it away and leaving from the door is not that bad. The "roads go ever ever on, over rock and under tree, by caves where never sun has shone, by streams that never find the sea"...and that is the beauty of our world ladies and gentlement! So...Enjoy!
