It's My Party and I'll Cry If I Want To. . .

We all need a good cry now and then, some of us more often than others.  I'm usually a glass half-full type person, preferring to see the positive side of things, to see the good in everyone.  That doesn't mean I'm stupid – I've been disappointed when the bad has overcome the good I wanted to believe in.  But sometimes the unfairness that is life builds up and overwhelms me.

I reached that point recently.  I was a wimp.  I let things I can't control get to me, and I had a meltdown.  I'm not afraid to admit that it felt darned good to cry – it released so much stress I had been holding inside.  I vented to a couple of good friends and to my hubby, and then I moved on.  There was nothing I could do to change what happened anyway.  Hubby is fond of saying "It is what it is."  In this case, he was right.  (Don't tell him I said that!)

When my eyes quit swimming in tears, I picked up a book and settled in my chair.  Reading is my escape – one of them, anyway.  So what if I was weepy?  Getting lost in a book is good therapy for whatever ails you!  Well, that and a good piece of chocolate.

I love to read.  I'm rarely without a book.  Every purse I own is large enough to hold a paperback.  I even keep one in my van, just in case I need it.  Reading relaxes me – it's an armchair vacation.  My favorite authors lure me into the pages of their books, making me care about their characters before I realize it.  They take me along for the adventure of their characters' lives.  I can escape for minutes, if that's all the time I have, or I can escape for hours.  I can ride the emotional roller coaster and end up feeling satisfied, rather than disgruntled at life.  What's not to like about reading?

Readers want various things from books.  Some of us want to laugh, some want to escape, some want to be thrilled, or maybe even frightened.  Those of us who are also writers may read to learn how another author has handled some aspect of writing, or maybe we just like to read something different than we write.

Our lives are so busy, so filled with living that we sometimes forget we NEED a break now and then.  We need some down-time.  Turn off the phone, turn off the computer.  You don't have to be connected all the time.

Pick up a book (or your e-reader).  Tune out the noise around you and get lost in the pages.  Immerse yourself in the lives of the characters.  Ride the roller coaster of their emotions.  Escape.  It's good for you!

Do you like a book that makes you laugh out loud, or do you prefer one that scares the living daylights out of you?  I'd love to hear what emotions you like to experience when you read.  Share?