In the early development of my language and literacy, reading was always an important factor. My mother would always read children’s stories to me before I was in school and I enjoyed it because she always read with such passion and did character voices. She made the books we read fun and entertaining and hence, I developed a love for literature at a very early age. Both my parents are college graduates and so I have been exposed to books for as long as I can remember. My father was a pastor, among other things; a playwright, author, poet, and composer, which I suspect I picked up some amazing qualities from. My mother was a housewife and later went into teaching which I was also able to benefit from. Entering into kindergarten I advanced quickly at learning to read and could read and write easily. Spelling always came naturally to me and I excelled quickly in English subject matter.
As my understanding of the English language grew, so did my interest in creating my own stories: my own voice. Growing up as the minister’s daughter, I often felt obligated to withhold my opinions so as not to offend anyone. This led to a lot of internal confusion and conflict and I was eventually prompted to write for my own benefit. It is here that I discovered that writing was the perfect outlet to comment on my personal perspectives and nobody had to know. It was a way for me to express concerns about family, society, and religion among any other topic I wished to dissect. Although I was always talented at writing fiction (even in elementary), my ideas of writing finally extended from journaling, to implementing my own voice and experiences into my fiction works.
It is through literature that I developed my love for story telling, but more importantly, a chance to connect to someone else. Literature can be a friend to someone who has none. It can be a catalyst, a springboard, an inspiration, a warning, or simply a view on life and it is through literature that one may realize that they are not alone in their opinions or views. It is always nice to feel the comfort of sympathy and to be able to share your feelings with others. Throughout my experiences of reading and writing, I have gained cultural, historical and fantastical views about life and can appreciate literary works for more than just education. I can relate to texts and hopefully find insight into my own life.
This was a great autobiography. I wish I had the opportunities you did with the support from your family. the only opportunity I had to write was when my teachers asked me to. Once I got home, I had other obligations such as chores or babysitting. I know that if I had the opportunity, I would have written great stories. I always had a strong imagination and wished I was receiving writing awards like my peers. I read to my boys every chance I get and it has helped them become proficient readers like you. Thank you for your story, I enjoyed reading it.
ReplyDeleteI can relate! I was encouraged (and possibly pushed at times) by my parents to read and write as much as I could. I didn't have the exact experience as you did, with your father being a pastor, but my family was very visible in my church when I was growing up (and even now) because my dad has an incredible voice and sings all the time at services. Both of my parents were also incredibly involved with the youth program, so I had the same feeling of not wanting to say much in case I offended anyone. Again, it wasn't as intense as how you grew up, but I can relate to using reading and writing as an outlet when you don't have a lot of room to express it verbally.
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