There's no doubt that books and storytelling have the power to turn your world around. Many of us reach for a book to escape the realities of everyday life, but others seek comfort in reading when life takes a turn for the worse.
One person who relied on the power of a good book is influencer and mum Georgie Crawford.
George recently opened up to Her.ie about the books she leans on in hard times, the power of storytelling, and why we need to encourage our children to write their own stories.
The mum said Oprah's life coach shared some incredible wisdom that has completely changed her relationship with reading.
Georgie shared: "Martha Beck has worked with Oprah for over 20 years. She's famous all over the world and she said something to me once that I will never ever forget.
"She was talking about the stack of books on the side of her bed and she calls them her mother pages, so she puts all of her favorite books on her bedside locker."
Georgie explained that whenever she feels a sense of dread or is overwhelmed, she reaches for her own collection of mother pages for support.
"Open one of the books and see what page it lands on and read your book until something you read resonates with you. It has the ability to completely transform your day," Georgie said.
At some stage in our lives, we may be lucky enough to find a book that feels like home to us. It may be a self-help book that got you through a hard time or a historical fiction novel that took you away from the real world.
For Georgie, the one book that really changed her life for the better was Oprah's book What I Know For Sure.
She shared: "What I Know For Sure completely transformed my relationship with cancer and that journey that I went through back in 2017."
"In the book, Oprah speaks about acknowledging and accepting. Very early in my cancer diagnosis I was certainly hiding and very fearful, but my friend bought me the book when I was starting chemotherapy.
"As I read it sitting in my chemotherapy chair I realised that I did have to acknowledge it if I was going to accept and then I needed to accept if I was ever going to move forward.
"Each page is going to resonate differently with a different person, but isn't that the magic of a book?" Georgie said.
The joy of reading is something that Georgie has passed on to both of her daughters but the mum also believes in encouraging kids to share their own stories.
As well as learning to read, writing and creativity are two of the greatest gifts we can give them.
"Sometimes children don't want to read someone else's story, they want to read their own stories. So we should encourage children to get involved with this campaign and write their own story."
Georgie said: "Let them see the magic of putting the words down on paper."
Georgie Crawford has teamed up with Specsavers to encourage budding authors to enter their nationwide short story competition.
The competition launched to help celebrate Specsavers’ sponsorship of the Junior and Senior Children's Book of the Year categories at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2024.
The winner of the junior and senior category of the Specsavers short story competition will win €500 for their school library.
They will also win all the titles shortlisted in the Specsavers Irish Children’s Book of the Year categories at the An Post Irish Book Awards 2024.
Find out more here.
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