I was always a big reader as a kid and throughout my life. It was
something that I always enjoyed and I'm not completely sure why. But I
prefer books to movies and television or the radio. It seems like that
would be boring because it is silent. I never noticed the silence
because I hear a narration in my mind.
Teachers, parents, employers and have always said things like "that's so good for you", "that's great for your vocabulary" or "you must have a great imagination". I don't know how much of that was ever really applicable. What I do know is that life got busier over time and reading a book was more of a luxury than getting a manicure was.I still went into Barnes & Noble to buy books, but it would take me months to finish a book.
Then something that didn't seem like a blessing actually had a really big silver lining. I ended up having an eye surgery June 2014. I wouldn't be able to see for about a week. So even though I am recovering from a surgery, there will be no laying in bed watching TV or movies. Or doing something else leisurely that involves seeing anything or being outdoors. No painting nails, or doing DIY beauty treatments etc. I can't even read I thought to myself. Or can I? Audible always seemed like not reading. It looked to me like the TV dinner of cooking. I couldn't take it seriously.
Don't knock it till you try it. I did a trial download of "The Lost Girls" about the Ariel Castro/Gina DeJesus/Amanda Berry/Michelle Knight kidnappings because I was interested in that court case and because it was a long audio. It was great. I wasn't bored. My mind didn't wander. I was hanging onto every word and got lost in it the way I do with a regular book. Where I am tired but fight sleep to keep hearing what happens next. Mind you, a lot of that has to do with the narrators as well and how great they are at putting feelings into the words. But, since when I read to myself I imagine different voices and scenes, it was the same. To date I am 37 audio books in. I prefer it to the radio, to TV, to a lot of past times, but still not to the real thing of a book.
Teachers, parents, employers and have always said things like "that's so good for you", "that's great for your vocabulary" or "you must have a great imagination". I don't know how much of that was ever really applicable. What I do know is that life got busier over time and reading a book was more of a luxury than getting a manicure was.I still went into Barnes & Noble to buy books, but it would take me months to finish a book.
Then something that didn't seem like a blessing actually had a really big silver lining. I ended up having an eye surgery June 2014. I wouldn't be able to see for about a week. So even though I am recovering from a surgery, there will be no laying in bed watching TV or movies. Or doing something else leisurely that involves seeing anything or being outdoors. No painting nails, or doing DIY beauty treatments etc. I can't even read I thought to myself. Or can I? Audible always seemed like not reading. It looked to me like the TV dinner of cooking. I couldn't take it seriously.
Don't knock it till you try it. I did a trial download of "The Lost Girls" about the Ariel Castro/Gina DeJesus/Amanda Berry/Michelle Knight kidnappings because I was interested in that court case and because it was a long audio. It was great. I wasn't bored. My mind didn't wander. I was hanging onto every word and got lost in it the way I do with a regular book. Where I am tired but fight sleep to keep hearing what happens next. Mind you, a lot of that has to do with the narrators as well and how great they are at putting feelings into the words. But, since when I read to myself I imagine different voices and scenes, it was the same. To date I am 37 audio books in. I prefer it to the radio, to TV, to a lot of past times, but still not to the real thing of a book.
I was always a big reader as a kid and throughout my life.
It was something that I always enjoyed and I'm not completely sure why. But I
prefer books to movies and television or the radio. It seems like that would be
boring because it is silent. I never noticed the silence because I hear a
narration in my mind.
Teachers, parents, employers and have always said things
like "that's so good for you", "that's great for your
vocabulary" or "you must have a great imagination". I don't know
how much of that was ever really applicable. What I do know is that life got
busier over time and reading a book was more of a luxury than getting a
manicure was. I still went into Barnes & Noble to buy books, but it
would take me months to finish a book.
Then something that didn't seem like a blessing actually had
a really big silver lining. I ended up having an eye surgery June 2014. I
wouldn't be able to see for about a week. So even though I am recovering from a
surgery, there will be no lying in bed watching TV or movies. Or doing
something else leisurely that involves seeing anything or being outdoors. No
painting nails, or doing DIY beauty treatments etc. I can't even read I thought
to myself. Or can I? Audible always seemed like not reading. It looked to me
like the TV dinner of cooking. I couldn't take it seriously.
Don't knock it till you try it. I did a trial download of
"The Lost Girls" about the Ariel Castro/Gina DeJesus/Amanda
Berry/Michelle Knight kidnappings because I was interested in that court case
and because it was a long audio. It was great. I wasn't bored. My mind didn't
wander. I was hanging onto every word and got lost in it the way I do with a
regular book. Where I am tired but fight sleep to keep hearing what happens
next. Mind you, a lot of that has to do with the narrators as well and how
great they are at putting feelings into the words. But, since when I read to
myself I imagine different voices and scenes, it was the same. To date I am 37
audio books in. I prefer it to the radio, to TV, to a lot of past times, but
still not to the real thing of a book.
The thing about books is, you grow to care about the
characters in the book. More so with nonfiction I find that with fictional.
Even if you don't initially agree with them, like a character on a show, you
feel like you know this person and have empathy for them. Its like a friend or
family member and you know their personality and thoughts enough to know why
they make the choices they make. Then it starts to leak into the rest of your
life. Where you are able to put yourself in the story of someone else in real
life. It truly helps in business and interpersonal relationships to know what
the other party thinks, how they think and why. First of all, it keeps you
ahead of the curve in business to be able to make an educated guess. Secondly,
it helps you not jump the shark on decisions or be so you-niverse centered
around decisions.
Professional and personal development depend on one’s
capacity for empathy and curiosity. Up to now, being born with the essential
skills was the only way to really have them. But that is changing with emerging
research and the growing recognition that reading can help us to imagine and
understand things from another perspective, have empathy and reasoning.
According to Psychology Today, reading a non-fictional story and then having to
read the subliminal messages in photos (a test they have humans perform) score
higher than not reading a story. Their emotional intelligence increased.
feeling lost? feeling lonely? feeling detached? feeling
destressed? feeling bored? Listen to an audio book if reading isn't your thing.
The first download is free so if you see you don't like it just delete it. But,
I think you will see yourself or someone you love in the story and that is what
is so hard to let go of. Realizing we are all experiencing the same things in
life and different times no matter where we are.