An Ode to Harry Potter

07:49

If this post is finally going live it means, my friends, that I have been successful in finishing my endeavor of reading all seven of the beloved series in a row. It was something I had been wanting to do for well... a very long time. I think anyone who has read the series or watched all eight films knows that these books are truly magic.
I can't deny that 2016 has been a year of change in my life. When I made the decision to read the series it was April 8th and I was a little more than a month away from graduating college. There was so much uncertainty in my future. So much that I, frankly, felt out of control of most everything that was coming my way. Choosing to read HP was possibly one of the best decisions I made in the past few months. With so much pressure on the decisions I was making when my education was coming to an end, there needed to be something that was a distraction.


I devoured the first book on my subway rides to and from work, mixed in with required reading from my British theatre class obviously. It was effortless to sit down with these characters that have truly been a part of my life since I was a wee tot. The start of the incredible journey that J.K. Rowling gave to the world.

April 21st, I began The Chamber of Secret's and right in time for my 22nd birthday. I was excited to have to do the long trek to work knowing that I could focus solely on the wizarding world only found in these amazing stories.


May 7th, and less than a week to graduation I myself was feeling 1) legitimately ill because I had contracted some terrible cold virus 2) totally unable to slow down time with my real friends. We all bonded on the stories or when someone would quote random lines from the films that we have all watched one too many times.


May 26th, the chaos of graduation, moving, saying goodbye was all coming to one immense close. My personal favorite book/movie couldn't have been there for me at a more opportune time as I cried on the plane home, reading of the adventures of Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Scared out of my mind about being home knowing that I didn't have a departure flight in the future.


June 17th, barely a month home and being made a job offer back in New York. So much inner turmoil about what the right and wrong things to do were. This being eerily as difficult to the painful decisions the characters were faced with in the book. As dramatic and dreary as this fifth novel is I felt a strong relation to the tone at the time I was reading it. 


July 3rd, after having made the decision to not accept the job offer in New York to figure out my plan in California. Ugh, not a good time mentally or physically I have to admit. But here I was, almost at the end of my HP journey and extremely bitter that it would end when well... things in my life still weren't how I wanted them. 


July 15th, the most heartbreaking of all the books but at the same time, the one with the most powerful message. I always felt that the end never felt final. That it was easy to believe these characters really did live their lives after the stories stopped. And along the way we learned something from them, whether big or small. 

"And all was well" and will be well. So maybe this post is a little "nerdy" but it was the best therapy I could've given myself at this exact moment in time. The values at the heart of these novels are one's I carry with me and hope to inspire in others. There is magic in the world and I have felt it these past few months. And for that I am extremely grateful. Xoxo Sam



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