MY SAFETY-NET SISTER

Vibrancy. The word calls to mind fireworks exploding against an onyx sky, a kaleidoscope of shimmering neon club lights, and your favourite song pulsating in your ears and drumming through your bones.

Whilst there is nothing wrong with these lively scenes, it’s easy to associate vibrancy with the loud and the colourful, the noisy and the busy. But there is a subtle beauty to the quieter moments; a side of vibrancy that we are quick to overlook because of its more introverted nature.

It is through my chosen family that I have fallen in love with these moments.

Everyone tells you that you’ll meet your best friends at university, and sometimes, given how much time you actually spend alone, this can seem impossible. Whilst I had a blast clubbing and making wild memories in first year, in reality I found my chosen family by discovering that my flatmate and I shared a common interest: books.

Don’t get me wrong, we love a good pre’s and the classic ‘how did I end up in this trolley at 3a.m?’ moment, but through our joint love of reading we established an unspoken alliance. Sometimes all it takes is one shared look and we know we’d both prefer to stay in and curl up with a good book, and this has been beyond rewarding for our mental health. Just knowing that there is the option to spend the odd evening in a room lit only by the gentle glow of fairy lights and a well-loved paperback creates a safety-net of sorts, bringing a surprising kind of vi brancy to my life; one that I’d never considered possible from an activity so commonly deemed lonely, quiet, or private.

Except with my chosen sister, it isn’t. True vibrancy comes from the warm glow of company, and this includes lively company without the pressure to talk or hide the more introverted side of your personality. As a pair, we’ve begun to adopt other friends into our little community, all squeezing into one bed, reading lines aloud to one another and sharing recommendations.

Through my love of books, I’ve found a family that brings a different kind of energy to my life: even though the pages of our books are black and white, the moment isn’t any less bright.