In The Company of a Good Book

I didn’t always enjoy reading. In fact, for a while, I detested it. I could not understand how someone would choose to sit in silence and go from page to page, reading the words that someone else wrote, in hopes of being transported to another world. Why would anyone want that? There was so much to experience in this world!

Growing up, my mom would purchase books like The Hardy Books and Nancy Drew, hoping that I would enjoy the twists and turns of the mysteries that had to be solved within those pages. Unfortunately, they had the opposite effect, and took me further and further away from wanting to open the cover of any book. The collection of books piled up, and collected dust over the years, and though she had wanted me to become a reader, I never witnessed her or anyone else in my family sit down and read a book themselves, so why should I?

Additionally, in high school, the kids who loved reading were perceived as the nerds and were often bullied for choosing to read a book instead of contributing to the mischievous behavior that some of their classmates participated in. I refused to be one of the nerds, though I would like to think that I was also not mischievous (except for that one time in fourth grade when I decided to take my prosthetic leg off in class and wear it backwards to amuse my classmates). 

Anyway, those students chose to read books like Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, and other fantastical novels. Some were even reading the forbidden Romance Novels with shirtless men on the covers! They loved reading. 

As a person who grew up in a Christian household, I was reminded regularly by my grandmother to read my bible. To this very day, she often says to me, “Don’t forget to say your prayers and read your bible.” Nowadays, I graciously view her words as quite endearing, because I would like to believe that her faith in that book is what has contributed to her loving nature. However, back then, it was not so much the bible that I didn’t want to read. It was reading itself.

I hated it. 

Until I didn’t.

I recall having an emotionally challenging time in college. I was away from home, didn’t want to leave the United States, but also didn’t have a clear path to stay. I was disabled, closeted, broke, and scared. I didn’t feel seen because no one could relate to me.  I also couldn’t talk to anyone about what I was feeling because I had not been given the tools and did not have the vocabulary to share what I had been going through. 

Then in 2014, I came across The Obstacle is the Way, written by Ryan Holiday. It wasn’t a book about dragons, or witchcraft, or unforbidden love. Instead, it was a book that told me that there were answers to my mixed bag of emotions, and answers to my questions about why I didn’t enjoy reading. It provided me with a framework to take all that I had been dealing with and turn those obstacles into opportunities. As I reflect, the characters in the stories of the books my mom bought and those my schoolmates were reading weren’t relatable to my circumstances. I didn’t need to use my imagination that accompanied those tales.I had always been artistic and my imagination consistently runs wild. Instead, what I needed most were answers.

Since then, I have developed a true love of reading.  Books that speak to the human condition, community and connection, self-care, advocacy, & productivity are at the top of my reading list. Now I understand why my schoolmates were always lost in the words on the page. They understood something back then that I know now, and it’s that a good book is healing. Whether we need to laugh, cry, think, or wonder; finding the right book can make a big difference. 

Reading the right genre of book for me has improved my emotional intelligence, been good for my mental health and has helped me to be more empathetic and vulnerable. 

I encourage you to be in the company of a good book.

It might just save your life. 

Here is a list of some of books that I have read, that you might enjoy:

Ego is the Enemy, Ryan Holiday

The Obstacle is the Way, Ryan Holiday

Stillness is the Key, Ryan Holiday

Courage is Calling, Ryan Holiday

The Daily Stoic, Ryan Holiday

Discipline is Destiny, Ryan Holiday

Think Like a Monk, Jay Shetty

How to Be Love(d), Humble the Poet 

You Are Your Best Thing: Vulnerability, Shame Resilience and the Black Experience, Tarana Burke

Meditations, Marcus Aurelius

The Art of Living, Epictetus

When You Wonder, You’re Learning, Gregg Behr & Ryan Rydzewski

A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara

Atomic Habits, James Clear

Can’t Hurt Me, David Goggins

Alex Trebek: The Answer Is…, Alex Trebek

The War of Art, Steven Pressfield

The Song of Significant, Seth Godin

This Is Marketing, Seth Godin

Purple Cow, Seth Godin

This is Strategy, Seth Godin

Tribes, Seth Godin

The E-Myth, Michael Gerber

Theatre for Community, Conflict & Dialogue, Michael Rohd

Eco Soma, Petra Kuppers

The Oxford Handbook of Social Justice in Music Education,C. Benedict, P. Schmidt, G. Spruce & P. Woodford 

Outside the Lines: How Embracing Queerness will Transform Your Faith, Mihee Kim-Kort

Slavery in the Bahamas, Gail Saunders

Islanders in the Stream: A History of the Bahamian People, Michael Craton & Gail Saunders

Homeward Bound: A History of the Bahama Islands, Sandra Riley