Highway to Happy

I’ve always been a picky reader. I take time researching about books I intend to buy, especially if it’s by an author I haven’t come across before. I am not the type who gets easily swayed by captivating illustrations and appealing titles.

One humdrum trip to the bookstore, I thought of just letting loose. What harm could a never-heard, pretty- looking book do, right? So, I started the search for the cover that would speak to my eyes the most. Twenty minutes later, I stumbled upon this bright blue book with an illustration seemingly fitting for a grade-schooler’s work of art:

Perhaps, most people would find nothing appealing about its cover, given that there was barely anything there. But that was exactly what drew me to it: the absence of elaborate, trying hard images. It was just THAT. A stick figure of a girl and a hasty drawn star on top of her head. Hence, the title STARGIRL. You can’t get any more literal than that.

“And I think every once in a while someone comes along who is a little more primitive than the rest of us, a little closer to our beginnings, a little more in touch with the stuff we’re made of.”

Out of a couple hundred pages, those were the lines that glued to me the most. I want to be like Stargirl in that way. I want to be like the struggling artist who doesn’t give a damn about anything other than what matters to him. I want to do things as I want to- nothing more than that- as opposed to doing things since I have to.I want to be carefree and careless- even for a couple of days out of an entire week.

Overall, it was similar to the books I’ve read in highschool, only with a deeper, more compelling message. It talks about individuality, simplicity, embracing life fully but only letting the good parts stick to you. It was a book I would gladly keep for my future children to read.

Confession:

I read this book last January, and even though I thought head on I would write about it, the idea got buried under piles of work. Recently, I did something that reminded me of Stargirl’s ideals: I finally had the guts to do something out of the spirit of fun and sheer entertainment; I enrolled in a Mandarin class. I know, I know. It’s not like a huge deal and all, but it’s something I want and there shouldn’t be anything bigger of a deal than that, right?

# posted by Liana : 7:32 AM