Taking the Jump When All You Know is Fear

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No half-heartedness and no worldly fear must turn us aside from following the light unflinchingly.

JRR Tolkien

The Fear

The first blog post of the year is always a fun one for me. I feel like sets the tone for the rest of the year. With that in mind, let me take you on a journey There and Back Again…

For most of my life, I have been intimidated by JRR Tolkien. The Lord of the Rings movies were quite frankly boring. It took several times of trying – and several times of falling asleep midway through movie #1 – to get through the series. By the time that I finally finished it, I was so turned off by them that I just filed LOTR as something that was uninteresting to me.

Then there was everything that I had heard about the author. Tolkien is known for being…eccentric. His stories tend to ramble as he gives background that many find to be unnecessary. He goes off on tangents about the forefathers of our characters, even though the lineage means nothing to the story. All I had heard was, “Yeah, he may go on for a page and a half about that tree, but he’s a good author.” That is not something that I wanted to invest time into.

The Jump

Now, here we are on JRR Tolkien Day at the beginning of National Book Blitz Month. January is a time to dive into reading, getting as much done as you can. I figured that, since January 3rd is Tolkien Day, I would take a deep breath and try this out. Starting with one of his easier ones, I picked up The Hobbit and started going…

…and then I kept going and going and going! I have seen The Hobbit movies, but they are nothing compared to this book. Even as a slow reader, I am already moving quickly through the story. In my opinion, sure, he goes into way more detail than may be necessary. However, the picture that he paints is a thorough one, and I enjoy getting the background to know how each character became the person that they are not.

Sometimes you have to ignore the naysayers. Have your own experiences and make your own decisions. Do the thing that looks like it’s going to suck. You never know – maybe you find a new favorite book.

AJ Jewell

AJ Jewell

Amber "AJ" Jewell started at BigPromotions.net in 2016 as a part-time admin assistant, quickly moving to be the 'Duchess of Flow" - making sure that the office is flowing smoothing. AJ is also an award-nominated author, homeschooling parent of three, an avid reader, and a college student.
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