Eukara Vox
Legendary AdventureGuide!
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Linking Books
by Sentharn
By their very nature, computers are well suited to boring or repetitive tasks. They will raise no objections when asked to crunch numbers for hours on end; they will not complain when instructed to sort and categorize data that a human would find exceedingly boring to scan and summarize. A computer can function indefinitely; barring mechanical breakdown, a computer is able to perform boring and trivial tasks so long as there is a source of power.
Obviously, human beings are not computers.
Even the most stoic of humans will eventually become weary and bored after performing the same job day after day, week after week, month after month. The tiring rigours of daily life are more than enough to tire our bodies, exhaust our minds, and leave us yearning for a break.
So what happens when we reach this point? We take time off for a vacation.
The rich and well-to-do purchase tickets and fly first-class to Hawaii, Italy, and France. Poorer families may spend the weekend camping or at a highrise hotel within view of Magic Mountain. But what about people who are unable to travel without the approval of their parents, or those of us who cannot afford much beyond basic living expenses?
The answer is far simpler than you may think. The next time you feel the need for a break, simply pick up a book and start reading.
Those of you who have played the Myst series of video games are likely familiar with the D'Ni Linking Books; you probably know that these handsome, leather-bound hardcover books, when touched, will draw the reader into Ages of fantasy and imagination. What you probably don't know is that almost any book can be a real-life Linking Book. That's right; the books you see, sitting with such innocence on shelves, collecting dust, are actually potential Linking Books, able to draw the reader into worlds far apart from our own.
You're probably wondering why you haven't been sucked through the cover of All the Weyrs of Pern and set loose on an epic quest involving dragons, an ancient Artificial Intelligence unit, and surly musicians. Or perhaps you were disappointed when you touched 2001: A Space Odyssey, expecting to be drawn through the pages, into an adventure around the Solar system in a Cool and Awesome Ship. Well, you see, the secret to unlocking the potential of the real Linking Book--the ones lining our shelves and library walls--is our imagination.
At first glance, there is little impressive about the average Linking Book. For example, some of my most often-read books are little more than paperbacks: tattered covers, yellowing pages, text printed off-alignment. Do not be fooled! This is merely an illusionary device employed by the great Makers of the Books to keep passerby from being sucked into books at random. The real magic happens when you pick up the book and begin reading: our imagination then awakens.
For our imaginations are so vividly powerful (though many do not realize it), they can take us to any place we can--if you'll please forgive the pun--possibly imagine. Our imaginations will show us any person, dead or alive and give us the ability to converse with them and interact with them. Our imaginations allow us to do anything within the bounds of our creativity--and beyond. All it needs is a trigger, a little push in the right direction, a pinch of inspiration, and our minds take over. This is where books come into play.
Books provide that little push, give us a base from which our minds may roam. The words within a book are able to provoke worlds in our mind, paint a picture that, for a precious few minutes, outshines reality.
They are the key to unlocking the limitless lands of our imagination. They are primed with worlds upon worlds, festooned with characters, places, flora and fauna, strange objects, unusual cultures, ideas, and concepts--many of which do not or cannot exist in our world. All they need is a willing mind and imagination! Why spend precious money on gasoline for a weekend trip, when there are a myriad of adventures at your fingertips, just waiting to be opened?
Go ahead. Open one. I'll meet you there.
~ "Sentharn" , June 2009
< Message edited by Maegwyn -- 1/1/2013 17:03:24 >
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