Talking about my life ^^ - Reading

Good morning, dear readers,

Recently, something unusual happened in my life. I ran out of things to read. I had just finished Orbit Orbit, a graphic novel that explores emptiness, paranoia, and the frustration of suddenly being unable to do the one thing you have always done.

It felt surreal (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)

When I read the final page, I didn’t notice anything at first. I simply closed the book carefully and placed it back on my bookshelf. That shelf is the only tidy place in my room, a small island of order in the middle of everything else that feels chaotic.

And then I realized it. I had nothing left to read.

In that moment, I felt like the protagonist of Orbit Orbit. Not exactly lost, but definitely afraid. Yes, afraid. For a brief moment, I was forced to face the real world without metaphors to guide me, without drawings to interpret it. Just reality, plain and unembellished.

That feeling explains perfectly what storytelling means to me.

Stories are both a refuge and a mirror. They are a dictionary I use to understand the world, but also a wardrobe where I can hide when it becomes too overwhelming. My bookshelf becomes a kind of light, something that keeps the anxiety of reality at a distance (⁠╥⁠﹏⁠╥⁠)

And it is not only about books. Every form of storytelling plays this role in my life. Music, comics, theatre, cinema. All of them are lifeboats, languages, sources of light. And like all beautiful things, you only truly understand their importance when they disappear.

It reminds me of One Thousand and One Nights. The girl tells stories to stay alive.

I read comics, I watch films, I go to the theatre for the same reason. To survive. Or maybe, more truthfully, to be able to truly live ✨

Dear readers, your affectionate Andrea