From saying our first word, to reading our first word, to reading our first story. It’s a beautiful world with lots of inspiring stories that we read and make every day. How did we come to read? How did you learn to say your first word? We listened. We heard others express their feelings, pronounce words with such ease, and we decided we wanted to be a part of the communication. That’s at least how I’ve felt about literacy. It was a way for me to feel connected to people in a way that others understand and can relate to. Literacy is being intertwined with others through reading and writing.

When I was young, I loved to read, because I didn’t love to talk. I loved to read the dictionary. That was where I was at with reading. I didn’t read stories or the subtitles of video games, I read the dictionary. I remember always being infuriated when my mother or sister would say a big word and I didn’t understand it. So, I wrote big and inspiring words from my dictionary and their definitions, on the walls of my room. I did this till I knew all the big words I’d ever heard them say!

Soon, I started to write sentences. I started to write in every journal I had, every paper had a quote on it, and I was always taking my time in class to make sure my writing was perfect. This became my voice that I cherished. And, like any young girl I had soon started to write the cheesiest romance stories of all time. The tall, dark, and handsome man would sweep the damsel in distress in his arms and when their eyes met, the sparks would fly, they would kiss, and of course live happily ever after. How could a story end any differently? Eventually, I wrote a whole book about never ending love and drama and published it to a reading site. To my surprise, it got over 300,000 reads!

They say that “all good things come to an end.” My literacy had come to end in this case. I wrote feelings on paper that I never wanted anyone to see, and somehow everyone ended up seeing it, judging it. It was like my safe had been dismembered by the robber who wanted the cash inside. I feared writing ever again because I didn’t want people to invade, I didn’t want to feel vulnerable and opened. I tore the quotes that I hung on the wall, I burned the dictionary that had started my literacy, and took down the book that people so obviously enjoyed. I was officially done with communicating through literacy. And became quiet once again.

Still to this day I have a hard time writing what I love. But I have learned that as people, we need something that inspires us to be more. I know that writing is a thing that I love to do. I know that reading is a way to experience another’s life and emotions. Literacy is something that we as people need in our lives not just for pleasure or expression but work and school as well. It is the way to connect with others and write histories, something that we couldn’t do without literacy.