The bookshelf

There comes a time in life, almost all of the time... Where you’re forced to make a choice. It could be as small as what outfit to wear in the morning or what route to take home. Some, spend milliseconds over the debate. They dismiss it like it’s an inconvenience in their day. These are the carefree kind, the live in the moment wildchilds. Although sometimes it’s a deep fear of never finding out what they truly want, because they never spend more than 3 seconds thinking about it.

Some decisions could be more significant; like picking a career path. Choosing where to live for possibly the rest of your life, although all of these could be a changing factor depending on you of course. The point is you reach this bookshelf with all of these different kinds of books, some with fairly interesting looking covers. Some may catch your eye and some you don’t even know exist. The unknown could literally stay the unknown to you, unless you specifically seek for it. These books are the unexpected, sometimes good and sometimes bad. It’s a gamble really. Your desires lead your fingertips to where it feels right. But sometimes there’s a pause, there is a “I just don’t know”. I call it a foot in front of a toy train moment, when everything just stops. Nothing is functioning in that moment, or flowing as it should.

This is the moment where YOU shift, the person you are now is changing. Maybe not enough for others to notice but you know it and feel it. And as you rattle your brain for the answer; your next move. The bookshelf becomes taller than before. There’s more choice and plenty more that you can’t help but feel curious about. So what now? You could climb to the very top and grab the first colour that lures you in, but at the same time you could fall. In this case falling would be.. well I think you get the metaphor...

And of course there are the half read books, the ones that no one ever stays around long enough for. It could be that no one could understand the complex story that it was. A truth revealer that no one could handle because it made them evaluate themselves and people tend to not like that. It would probably take someone who was so sure about themselves to be able to finish till the end. Someone who had that tough life experience and knew not every story was a fairytale. They weren’t the shiniest book in the shop but they held a certain type of wisdom in them. But when there’s too much hurt involved in the story or something too unexpected happens, it drives the reader away. It makes things complicated and they detach themselves, they end that emotional connection like turning off a life support machine.

At that point it’s just easier to put the book down. For the over thinkers it’s a challenge not to feel guilty, it’s something they take days or even weeks to get over. For others it’s a swift decision, one they take no responsibility for at all. It’s as simple as putting an item back down in a shop.

There’s also the chance of picking up a book you normally wouldn’t, one that has a simplistic cover but could have the most amazing story inside. Is that a risk you could take? It could also just be as simple as it looks, which no one could ever complain about but let’s face it. Your heart desires more. Of course you want more, you want a book that excites you every time you pick it up. You want to feel different ways even though it’s the same story inside. You want to be so engaged that you fall asleep whilst reading it every night.

My best advice would be, in any decision you make. Never walk away from that bookshelf empty handed. Because any story is better than having nothing at all.