Books have always been a way for
Gaby to learn. Discover. Feel. Know.
I've always been very curious. I see something interesting, and I want to read about it. I want to know.
At 26, she surrounds herself with books. They help her stay focused when it comes to work — and centered when it comes to herself.
Growing up and attending grade school in Mexico, access to certain books was limited for Gaby. There were plenty of books around but because most of the books she came across were through school, they tended to be academic in nature. And without a school library or school book fairs to offer options, Gaby had to satisfy her book cravings somewhere unexpected — church.
I was raised Catholic and there was this bookstore outside of church. My parents would take us and we would look at all the books and I just loved it. I still have vivid memories of that.
She enjoyed the religious books she found on the bookstore shelves for one particular reason, they were not school-related.
And Gaby's early reading journey took an unexpected turn when her family uprooted their lives in Mexico to move to the United States. Not only did she have to adapt to a new culture and country, she had to re-learn everything in a new language while still learning new concepts and skills in school. She was in sixth grade.
When I first got here, it was traumatizing because I knew my school back at home. I knew the system. I knew how I was going to be successful. And here, I didn't understand the most basic things. It was so frustrating.
By the time she was in high school, Gaby was able to read the assigned books on the AP English reading list. The first English book she read and understood on her own was Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck.
I remember reading it and catching on to what they were saying. That was the first time.
Being able to read in both English and Spanish and understand what she was reading was liberating for Gaby.
I remember thinking, the day I fully understand what I'm reading and what I'm doing and I have a voice in both languages, I'm not going to stop. And I think that's been my motivator from then on. If it's power, if it's freedom. I want it.
She read her way through college and graduated with a new status: English-reading bibliophile. It's been a few years since those college days, but Gaby's shelves are now mostly filled with books in English. Although she does keep a collection of her favorite Spanish titles on hand.
Typically she reads 3-4 books at a time but right now she has whittled her list down to two: Becoming by Michelle Obama and Dare to Lead by one of her favorite authors, Brené Brown. With her studies and extensive research on leadership, shame, vulnerability and guilt, Brown's books have been a go-to for Gaby.
Because of where I'm at in my life right now, I'm really trying to understand why I do the things I do as a woman. I learn a lot from Brené Brown — and Elizabeth Lesser.
Gaby recently read and enjoyed Elizabeth Lesser's book Cassandra Speaks in which notable stories, myths and other tales are reimagined from women's perspectives. It's really interesting because it's about how if stories we know were told by women, history would look a little different.
Other favorites for Gaby include the book series written by Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón and one particular book that she has read multiple times — Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.
With Eat, Pray, Love, every time I read it, I think: whoa. Every time. At every point in my life it just resonates and there's so much to it — more than just the narrative.
She doesn't have a favorite genre though and maintains her willingness to try different types of books.
If it gets my attention, I'll buy it or put it on my list.
Over the years, Gaby has realized that whether she was learning a new language, discovering a new subject or finding a new feeling, reading has been a doorway to something else. Something intangible and yet, invaluable.
Reading is knowledge and — it's freedom —from many different aspects. I think it's freedom from our own judgements. It's freedom from the things you grow up believing that are not accurate. It's freedom from judgement from other people. It's freedom in understanding and learning about cultures and people you didn't know about because now you do know. And it's freedom in that if you read enough, you can be independent and self sufficient. There's just so much freedom that comes from it.
And for Gaby, that is what she has most needed — and found in books. The incomparable feeling of being set free.