Books are Bared Souls

Sharing your art with the world is an act of bravery. It’s not the same as standing on the front lines or saving people from burning buildings. But I do believe that great art saves lives in that it has the power to change us, to make us better, to give us hope. As a writer, I know just how terrifying it is to pour yourself into a creation and then let it go out into the world on its own. With no protection. With no way of calling it back once it’s gone. For Whovians, it’s very much like the Ood, who hold their brains in their hands, vulnerable and unprotected. But heavens the beauty of that song to those who are willing to listen.

As a reader, I want to thank those authors who offer themselves and their art to the rest of us. They are willing to face ridicule and heartbreak in order to share their wonderful worlds. I have been changed by books. I have laughed, cried, and trembled in both joy and fear as I read words written and shaped by authors who were brave enough to get hurt.

I don’t love all of the books I read. But I’m grateful to those authors anyway, because even if that book didn’t speak to me, it probably spoke to someone else. Sometimes a book doesn’t sing to me until years later. Because while we are changed by books, books are changed by us as well. We read them differently as we grow different, as we change and learn. That’s the great thing about stories. They are ever changing.

Thank you to the story-makers, to the yarn-spinners and the tale-weavers. Thank you for facing the world with your soul bared. You spoke to mine when you did.