Don't Judge a Book by its' Cover

How many times have you heard the saying "Don't judge a book by its' cover!"? Too many times to count, right? Me too! It always seemed so silly growing up.  I always took it literally.  If I read a book for Accelerated Reader (AR) it had to have a cool cover.  I was not going to read it without pictures or a colorful background.  Then came 5th grade and Harry Potter had zero pictures and a dark cover.

It's just like growing up and having the true meaning behind the saying.  When you are younger the only people you judge are strangers you don't know and that's because your parents told you not to talk to strangers.  Children are open to anybody until they become a middle schooler and everyone is there enemy (the dark cover).  You have that one best friend who would get you through your first crush and your first bully.  Then, when you get older you've collected a lot of books over time, some are picture books, some are classics (your family), some are adventures (your friends), and some are romantics (someone special).  Everything outside of your collection comes to you as a new cover something you've never seen before.  Do you dare to start a conversation and figure out what this "book" is about? Maybe, but most of the time you only take people by what they present to us: the table of contents.

Can we really get to know someone by the table of contents?  A table of contents will give you a wide variety of ways to interpret a story.  Someone's character is what they do when no one is watching.  How can you get to know a character if you don't read the book? You can't.  Sure you can read summaries but that isn't going to give you a clear understanding of what that character really is and what they do for the book.

This blog probably seems a little confusing because I keep referring to people being books and books being people.  What I'm trying to get across is we don't know anyone until we have actually gotten to know them.  By saying, you know that person but you've only seen what they do around you doesn't necessarily mean you know them.  People are very interesting creatures.  I'm the worse when it comes to people watching.  I try not to judge anyone by what they are doing but watching people's actions seems to make us think we know everything about them.  Make sure when you start talking about someone you actually know them instead of just talking about what you've seen them do.  There is nothing worse than being accused of something you aren't.  I was my whole high school career and made it a point to let everyone get to know me as much as possible while I am in college so they won't assume wrongly of me.  Don't be afraid to embark in new relationships with people.  It is the most interesting thing in the world to start a conversation with someone you do not know and get to know more about what goes on in their lives.  That's why I like reality TV so much.  I get to see a little of who they are but the fault in it is we don't really know who they are because we don't ever get to talk to them.

Keep your book open.  Don't be a reader, be a learner.

Kayla :)