I like stories. Stories have the ability to take someone into a far away place to escape from life's troubles and provide temporary relief and comfort. That's what it did for Sayaka Murata, a phenomenal writer who authored Convenience Store Woman and Earthlings. Both are very good books. I'm currently reading her latest novel, Life Ceremony. She really has a way of capturing the reader with her words that draws them into her web of storytelling. Branded eccentric by many who have read her works, Sayaka doesn't shy away from originality and expressing her voice through her writing. Here's an interview of her sharing the impact stories made in her life. Her words truly resonated with me.
Stories have always captivated me as a child. I really enjoy what they have to offer. Stories are a refuge for those seeking to escape from life's troubles into another place where they can be free to explore, create, and imagine endless possibilities and other worlds out there. Stories can provide comfort, laughter, a belonging for the outcast, and bridges the gap towards empathy, compassion, and understanding towards people of all ages, race, and backgrounds. Stories help foster and build community in the hearts of the lonely traveler aiming to find companionship. Stories have the ability to resonate with people and leave behind a legacy to be remembered. And I believe that when stories are being written by the pen in your hand, as you command and control the words on the page, it gives you more power and freedom to unlock your inner desires and express your deepest longings and dreams that can't be stolen from you.
Since the Covid pandemic in 2020, I've actually started writing my own stories. It just occurred to me suddenly while I was working a night shift at my job and it gave me opportunities to type away at the keyboard, using and stretching my imagination. While I will never be as good as J.K. Rowling or Cornelia Funke, I found writing stories therapeutic, introspective, and fun as I'm thinking about and creating stories and characters in my head. I'm certainly not a professional writer or an English major, but ever since that night I yearned to begin writing. Not to make a name for myself but because like Sayaka, writing has helped me find liberation. Stories are powerful to the mind and can be used for our benefit and to help others. Through stories, we learn moral lessons, themes, are taught about life, about ourselves and about others.
“When you read a novel, you might find something very true about yourself.”-Sayaka Murata
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