The Next Flight To Wonderland Is Now Boarding

My love of books is no secret. Even when I was keeping this fact under wraps, I didn’t do a very good job of concealing it. I even love the book smell that permeates the air in libraries. I know what causes it and understand I’m saying I am enjoying the scent of decay. That smell is a comfort to me. Ahhh.

Olfactory aside, books are a fantastic source of knowledge, perspective, inspiration, and so much more. Which is why I will never really understand those folks who say, “I don’t read.” So many questions jump to mind for me. The biggest one being- how the hell do you escape reality?

TV, sure. Movies, yes. Both excellent for escapism, I agree.

Maybe what I am about to say here is a little old fashioned, but I’m ok with that. The power of TV and movies is strong. Neither, however, can best what books have to offer. If they could, we would be getting barraged with original TV and movie releases. We wouldn’t be seeing so many book adaptations in both mediums.

I’m not trying to say TV and movies are garbage. I’d be one super-sized hypocrite. I’ll quite often flick on the TV and gladly take in what is on offer. Over the last few COVID dominated months, though, I’ve realized there are limitations to the solace the big and small screen can provide.

We have converted everything, or just about everything, possible to virtual experiences. Work meetings, concerts, Easter dinner, even trivia-all are run through Zoom or Google Hangouts. I have a desk job, so my 9-5 was already wrapped up in these technologies before the pandemic hit.

With COVID, my screentime has probably doubled because of Zoom’s infiltration of my personal time. The suggestion of watching TV has made my skin crawl and made me want to scream at the top of my lungs on more than one occasion. Silly, I know. That’s what’s been happening.

I read an interesting article from National Geographic about the effects of Zoom meetings on people. Our brains aren’t cut out for prolonged usage of this type of communication. The report suggests our minds are working twice as hard for some folks, but we are left with a sense of not accomplishing anything.

Yes, yes, and yes! That’s me.

With that lack of accomplishment feeling looming large in my head, I could not find any enjoyment in having a story unfold for me on a similar-looking screen. Instead, I felt like a lump of bleh.

You might be thinking, well, that’s Zoom’s fault. Or our brain’s reaction to Zoom. Not TV. And yes, that’s true to a point. But with watching a TV show or a movie, the viewer’s engagement is limited. Something that ticks plenty of boxes in many circumstances. Who doesn’t like being told a story?

When you’re looking to escape the feelings brought on by an overly virtual world, that’s not always going to cut the mustard.

“Mustard? Don’t let’s be silly!” Mad Hatter, could you sit down and be quiet for a bit longer? Thanks.

Books are stories being told to us by an author, yes. And they can be read to us either through traditional methods or through audiobooks. But it’s a different relationship.

When I sit down with a book, the author’s words give me the framework for what the characters look and sound like. What the places in the book look like. But I bring them to life in my mind’s eye. I am, in essence, the casting and location director in my personalized production of the story.

Cracking open a book, regardless of how many times I’ve read it, is what I imagine getting sat in First Class feels like. But when there is no one else in the section. It’s just you sitting in an extra comfy seat with a glass of champagne on your tray table. First-class probably isn’t like that anymore, if it ever was like that. It’s my imagination, so it can be whatever I want it to be.

I’ve got a front-row seat to whatever the book is going to bring. That is the engagement you can’t get from a movie or TV show. When you’re reading a book, you have a hand in your adventure. It’s an explicit relationship with the author that is extremely personal.

When I pick up Alice in Wonderland, Lewis Carroll laid a framework for his audience. But, how that’s interpreted when I crack open the spine is up to me. For a point of reference is an odd mashup of the Disney cartoon and the gardens in Oxford, England. (Alice is a brunette for the record.)

That combination makes for a much more satisfying experience. On the one hand, I can let my mind wind down. On the other, it’s engaged in a fantasy that allows me to escape the banality of everyday life.

I know my Wonderland isn’t the same as anyone else’s. That’s the beauty of reading. It’s a shared experience. At the same time, each book is a personal journey. Books don’t perpetuate the feeling of uselessness virtual meetings do. As much as I love TV and movies, I just don’t think they access the same avenues of escape and personalization.

So really, this whole post has been a plug for you to grab your favorite book. Whatever it is. Curl up in a comfy chair and take flight to the land of your choice. Wonderland. Narnia. Middle Earth.

No passport or ID needed. Nowhere else in the COVID world are you going to get that kind of access. Nowhere else in the normal world either.

Take some time and walk away from the omnipresent stress of living through a pandemic. You’ve earned it.