Well, not entirely reading; using my ears instead!

Where have I been? Seriously, how did I not get into Audible sooner?

You would struggle to get me to switch my daily routine of listening to classical music – I love it and have been doing it for decades. 

My alarm goes to ABC Classic FM in the morning, and the music filters through our home and my studio until dinner prep time.

Classical music does so much for my mind and nervous system, which helps me manage the day.

Over the past 16 years, classical music has been my saviour, gently replacing my fuller pre-injury life of learning French while working on my computer, preparing for exhibitions, reading endless books and articles, and socialising… a lot! 

Reading has been especially tricky.

If the pain levels from sitting too long don’t interrupt the reading, the fatigue will! And it will also prevent me from getting into the book’s meaning. And then remembering the book itself later is hopeless.

I’ve been frustrated for years… seriously, over 10 years reading dribs and drabs through short periods. Like most activities and achievements with this health issue, everything is fragmented. Ultimately, it feels like you own something so precious, but it’s been put together from a bunch of broken pieces.

After hearing endless ads for Audible, I finally decided to try it.

That was a month ago. I’ve since ‘read’ The Picture of Dorian Gray, which I had been busting to read for years, and have two more books on the go; The Bookbinder of Jericho, which I listen to while I’m painting in the studio and Kitchen Confidential which I listen to in the car with Theo whom I bought the book for and said it was fab and that I’d love it (that’s all Theo says, he never pushes because he knows I can’t read that easily). 

Well, that’s changed!

And this morning (Sunday), I cut out a book recommendation when reading the weekend papers!!! I’ve been flicking past the book reviews and drooling over the summer reading catalogue inserts for years.

I’m making a reading list now. No, I won’t be listening to any PAIN RELATED BOOKS.

As a student of the first batch of computer-savvy graduates, I was in high demand and thrilled about technology. However, over time, I have grown frustrated with certain aspects of technology and devices, like constantly learning new software and features that seem to last five seconds!

But technology like this leaves me feeling very grateful. And I’m also thankful that technology has allowed me to become an advocate without the physical demands, make this website, and make a health app from all this experience.

So, in the evenings… some evenings, not all, unfortunately, feel free to imagine me in the studio painting while my computer reads me chapter after chapter to the sounds of my palette knife mixing paint and brushstrokes on linen.

Oh, happy happy. Soooo happy.