How something so tiny can change everything?
“I consider as lovers of books not those who keep their books hidden in their store-chests and never handle them, but those who, by nightly as well as daily use thumb them, batter them, wear them out, who fill out all the margins with annotations of many kinds, and who prefer the marks of a fault they have erased to a neat copy full of faults.”
–Desiderius Erasmus
The Embosser that Changed Everything
There's something magical about a book that carries not just the author's words but the unique imprints we readers leave behind. At the beginning of the pandemic, when I had nothing to do except read, my mom gave me a book embosser as my Hannukah gift. The custom embosser was impressive with its silver color and my initials to stamp.
As a devoted reader, I had sworn since a young age that I would never hurt a book with my hands. So receiving a gift like this one had a duplicity of its own – I wanted to use it so badly, yet at the same time, how could I dare hurt the sacred pages of my books? I even remember the first time I used wasn't even on my own book; it was one of my mom's. I felt terribly guilty when I saw the ups and downs the embosser had left and marveled at how pretty it looked.
For a couple of days, the embosser sat on my night table, gathering dust while I continued reading my books and not using it. Then, I have no idea what happened. My hands moved out of my own volition and grabbed the embosser. I inserted the first page of the book I was about to read and pressed it gently, being extremely careful not to squeeze too hard and break it. I believe I stared at my initials printed on the page for 5 minutes, my fingers grazing the page over and over again, delighting in the sensory feeling.
Somehow, I felt pride seeing my name printed on the book. Pride because I was marking my book as my own, owning this book and story with my ideas and feelings. I have stamped almost every book I've read since that day.
Personalized Reading
Some of you might wonder how I could dare to stamp my books – that this is sacrilege and I'll burn in Hell (honey, my Kindle history has already saved me a place in Hell, don't worry). But seriously, this gift opened a whole new way of seeing reading for me. Soon after, I started annotating and underlining my books (obviously, with a pencil; I'm not going that far).
By stamping and annotating, I've made the experience of reading 10 times better. Now, I can put every thought and feeling that passed through my thick head while reading. I see it as a form of writing kind of a reading journal! It warms my heart to open my book and see my tiny writing saying how much "I love this part," or mostly "pain," "<3," and "LOL"…
About a year ago, I wrote a similar post about my journey as a book annotator beginner, and how books are a sacred thing for me. They are my transportation to incredible worlds and a distraction from reality and life's problems. And how difficult it was for me to even mark a line on it.
When we decide to stamp, annotate, or doodle in our books, we're making a conscious choice to leave part of ourselves between those words. Leaving a mark of our unique perspective and emotions that have moved something deep, deep inside us. At the same time, it works as a dialogue we have with the characters and the story. Making us actively engaging and allowing us to delve on a more profound level with the characters.
Annotating and highlighting books can be aesthetic for some, as they use different colors and pretty sticky notes. Although, for me, it's more about the moments that trigger and strike a chord within me. It's a reflection of my personal growth, of my evolving perspective. It doesn't matter if we do it for one reason or both, doing it creates a canvas of joy, pain, and love for the stories that invoke feeling in us.
We do it so that when we revisit the book years later, we see how the annotations have changed us while also remembering the moments that impacted and left a mark deep within our souls.
Now I see stamping and annotating as a way of being me; to express myself. To resonate with the characters in the books, having a deeper connection with them. Mainly to express what sometimes I don't say out loud.
My stamped initials are now a tiny signature of the adventures, emotions, and thoughts that I've woven into the pages. Each mark represents a journey taken, a world explored, and a connection formed.
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