Finding Ourselves in the Stories We Read

Some books leave us with a favorite character. Others leave us with a question.

Not a question about the ending or what happens next, but a question about ourselves.

Why did I connect with that character?

Why did that moment stay with me?

Why did I find myself longing for something they had?

I've realized that some of the most meaningful parts of reading don't happen when we are racing toward the final page. They happen when we slow down enough to let a story settle.

For a long time, my reading journey looked different than it does today. Like many readers, I have gone through seasons. There were times when I loved self-help books and nonfiction because I was searching for knowledge, growth, and answers. Those books gave me so much, and I still value them.

But lately, I have found myself returning to fiction.

Not because I want to escape my life, but because I want to experience more of it.

After seasons of feeling burned out, I found myself craving joy, wonder, and a little bit of magic. Fiction became a place where I could explore possibilities, experience different perspectives, and reconnect with the parts of myself that needed room to breathe.

This is where slow reading has become important to me.

I don't annotate my books. For some readers, that practice is a beautiful way to connect with a story, but for me, it feels almost sacrilegious to mark up the pages. Instead, I slow down by pausing.

I pause after a chapter. I pause after finishing a book. I sit with the feelings a story brought up and ask myself why they are there.

Sometimes, those feelings surprise me.

There have been moments when I found myself feeling jealous of something a character had. Maybe it was their confidence, their freedom, their relationships, their sense of purpose, or the life they were building. Instead of dismissing that feeling, I started asking a different question:

What is this showing me about what I want in my own life?

Those moments became less about wanting someone else's story and more about discovering pieces of my own.

This reflection is one of the reasons I have become fascinated with literary archetypes.

The Queen. The Oracle. The Rebel. The Witch.

We all carry pieces of these archetypes within us. Some may feel familiar, while others may represent parts of ourselves we want to nurture.

Personally, I find myself drawn to the Queen and the Rebel.

The Queen represents the part of me that cares deeply for my kingdom, the people and spaces I am responsible for. But she also reminds me that a good leader needs boundaries, wisdom, and the ability to care for herself too.

The Rebel represents the part of me that questions, challenges, and wants to help shape the world into something better. As I have grown older, I have found that part of myself becoming stronger.

Maybe that's the magic of stories. They allow us to see ourselves from different angles. They show us who we are, who we have been, and sometimes who we are becoming.

This is why I created spaces like The Reader's Journey with Velvet Bookmark. I don't want people to simply walk away with a book recommendation. I want them to leave with connection, curiosity, and a renewed sense of wonder.

Because every book is a new discovery.

Sometimes we discover a new world. Sometimes we discover a new perspective. And sometimes, if we slow down enough, we discover something new about ourselves.

In a world where you can be anything, be kind.

Be like water.

Stay curious. Stay open. Keep discovering.