I challenged myself to start reading more at the beginning of this year. Actually, it was one of my New Years Resolutions. Now don't get me wrong, I'm normally the person who makes this extravagant list of ways I intend to change my life in the coming year and then toss it out come mid-February. But for some reason, a shallow challenge to myself to read more for my personal enjoyment stuck with me.

I loved to read when I was little. I always had an extra book in my backpack. My favorite subject was reading. I could read a book cover to cover in a single day. I loved to immerse myself in the story of some fictional character's life.

Back then, I think it had something to do with my love of playing pretend. Every little kid enjoys pretending to be someone they aren't and for me, that's what reading was, a pretend world.

The issue is, when kids grow up, they stop playing pretend. They hang up the costumes, forget the characters, and box up the majority of their wild imaginations. They enter a normal reality and start discovering other things. I was one of those kids. Somewhere along the way, I stopped playing pretend. I put the books down in exchange for a screen.

Don't get me wrong, I never lost my love of reading. But as time went on, I spent less and less time reading outside of school assignments. Up until the start of the new year, my reading was minimal to none. I would even dare say that I had no desire to read. But life changes.

Coming into a new year and new semester, I decided to switch things around. The previous semester had been all too serious and quite honestly, I stopped finding joy in anything. After a long look at myself and my ability to change, I decided to start pretending again. No, I don't play dress-up or create my own fictional world in my backyard like I did when I was little but I decided to immerse myself in worlds created by other people.

I find that reading yourself into an alternate reality is some of the best therapy the universe can offer. When the world becomes overwhelming and life is hard, covering up with a warm blanket and good book is a great way to escape, even if only for a moment.

I challenge anyone reading this to start pretending again. Throw yourself into fictional realities. Attach yourself to characters. With all that's going on in our world, sometimes it isn't so bad to escape to another one.