I’ve lived what is probably an average middle class life. I haven’t experienced too many genuine tragedies. Family members die, and I mourn them, but I’ve never experienced any kind of life-defining event that shapes my outlook and makes me brood or lament when I think of it.

Time comes for us all, but I do hope I will avoid such life-defining tragedies if possible.

Nevertheless, I can sometimes get emotional over books or stories. I’ve cried more than once reading certain stories, and even very short and simple ones can tug on my heartstrings. And I’ve wondered if this is common.

I feel like having a physical reaction to books isn’t exactly normal. I’ve never seen other people cry while reading, or pump their fist reading an action book, or have a terrified look on their face reading a horror or thriller book.

So is my reaction the abnormal one?

I remember reading “The Neverending Story” when I was 10, and there’s a sort-of 4th wall break in that book where the character reading the book starts being addressed by some characters in the book. I remember it making me tense enough that I had to turn on the lights in my room to keep reading it, I was worried the characters were addressing *me*.

I remember reading “Of Mice and Men” in 5th grade, and crying a lot when I got to the end.

I remember reading “House of Leaves” in college and being scared to go back to my studio apartment. I stayed abnormally late in the library because I didn’t want to go back to my apartment and fall asleep alone.

Like I said, I feel this pattern of reactions is uncommon, and I’ve wondered why. Why do I seem to react more strongly to books than other people I see?

The only answers I’ve come up with aren’t great ones. Like I said I haven’t experienced great tragedies, but I also haven’t experienced unbelievable joy. I’ve lived my life within very modest parameters of emotion: no extreme highs, no extreme lows.

And maybe that’s the reason. I’ve been lucky enough to not have much to cry over IRL, but also unfortunate enough to have not much to laugh and celebrate over. And maybe having lived a much less emotionally fulfilling life, the only output I have for high emotions is in books.

I don’t know. But I wonder if anyone else is like this