Audiobooks speak for Themselves

“Audiobooks speak for themselves.” ~ Paul Acampora

Smells are intoxicating and have the power to transport you into a happy place: the tantalising aroma of a warm apple pie, the luxurious goodness of freshly cleaned laundry, the subtle scent of a floral perfume but for me it has always been the smell of printed books. I would inhale deeply whether I was in a bookstore, in a library, opening a new book or simply paging through an old one. All book lovers will agree that there is nothing - not even freshly cut flowers - that will surpass the scent of a hard copy book. Why no-one has captured the smell of a good book, bottled it and sold it as a perfume is still beyond me. 

It is hardly surprising then when audiobooks really took off in digital, smartphone format around 10 years ago, I wasn’t interested. How can the reading experience be the same as that from scanning the words from an old-fashioned book? My son had  gifted me an e-Reader a decade ago and I struggled with reading from an electronic device not because it posed any problems as such: it was just not satisfying as turning the pages of a real book. 

In the past, I had listened to stuff on cassette tapes. I remember bagging a bargain of a 100- set cassette tapes of English classic reads like Austen, Bronte, Dickens, Hardy etc during a garage sale in New  Zealand in 1998. My kids still “cherish” fond memories of motivational messages and children’s cd sets like Brer Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh being played during the long road trips. They still talk about the marathon-long Brian Tracy cds on productivity, self-discipline and effective communication they grudgingly listened to while traipsing around the country on road trip holidays. So as you can see, listening to books was not new to me. However, it wasn’t a way of life - it was an occasional experience especially when going on a long drive. 

About two years ago, I decided to give the Audible App for the iPhone a go more so because of the dangling carrot of Michelle Obama’s autobiography, “Becoming”, which was given as a freebie if you downloaded the app. I was salivating at the bits to read that and I was not disappointed. The easy eloquence and the dulcet tones of the First Lady’s voice as she chronicles her life from her childhood on the South side of Chicago, powering her way to high school and Princeton, juggling her roles of lawyer, mother and wife of the first, black American president makes you beg like Oliver - “ please sir, may I have more?” With her brutal honesty, sharp wit and her engaging storytelling, she invites us into her world as she opens up with the highs and lows of living in the world famous address. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of “reading” this book which seemed to be catapulted  to a higher level because it was read by the inspiring lady herself. 

If the truth be told, in my busy life, most days I can only fit in at most an hour’s reading. If I had a day of check marking senior students’ English essay drafts, my eyes and brain were too tired to even scan the words of a book. However, since as far back as I can remember, right from my early childhood days, I have developed the ritual of reading just before I sleep. Reading has a powerful way of decompressing the body and the mind and bringing it down to a restful place so that you can enjoy a good night’s sleep. Now, with the iPhone propped on my pillow, I get to have the company of any charming voice lulling me into a deep stupor when I don’t have the energy or the inclination to engage in traditional reading. My current bedfellow is our past prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull, as he delights me with his alluring voice as he tells it warts and all of his term as the 29th prime minister of Australia (2015-2018) in his autobiography, “The Bigger Picture”. 

One thing I noticed with my new found love of audio books is that monotonous and tedious tasks are now a pleasure to do. With my iPhone close by, I happily take off the washing from the line, carefully and meticulously fold and despatch the clothes  to the respective owners’ rooms. Sometimes, I am quite open to ironing and putting away the clothes or the linen( yes, I iron sheets and pillowcases) as long as I have an enthralling autobiography, fiction or business book to listen to. Sometimes, even the already clean kitchen counters and the stove get another doing over just because the plot is too riveting to put on pause.  Cooking is also a much- looked forward to activity. Since I am not a fan of bottled or packaged convenience foods, food prepping can take a lot of time but it is something I eagerly look forward to now as I can polish another chapter. 

For those who know me well, I still rebel against any form of physical activity that is associated with fitness or exercise. However, this is now somewhat sweetened as I arm myself with iPhone and AirPods and pound the pavements with a whole host of walking partners who read to me. Sometimes, when the storytelling is taking a decidedly juicy turn, I hastily make an executive decision to lengthen my route. I have to admit the 15-20 minute early morning walks I resentfully did out of duty has now become a sought after pleasure( okay, maybe that’s stretching it a bit!) and has translated to almost an hour. 

I guess one of the reasons I was vehemently against audio books was that it felt like cheating. From the time we start reading in prep , we are conditioned to think that reading is a sanctimonious activity that is an individualistic, fully focussed task done silently and demanding the full importance it deserves. So, if you are going to disparage this sacred, centuries- long undertaking by just taking the easy way out and listening to someone, it would be cheating, right? 

However, the more I thought about it, I realised that while it is important for emergent readers to see the words in books so that they can increase their sight words and thereby become more proficient with reading, it wasn’t really necessary for us who are established readers who have already cracked the code of reading. Why do we read a book in the first place? 

It stimulates our mind (and I am told reduces your chances of getting dementia and Alzheimer’s) which watching television and browsing the internet doesn’t do, it improves our level of concentration which is especially needed in these modern times of short concentration spans, it broadens our interests and knowledge( I have learnt so much about topics, countries and other cultures from books), a good book can make you more empathetic as you relate to the suffering of others, it improves concentration as you need to follow the story in order for it to make sense and most importantly reading before bedtime improves your sleep quality. Aren’t all these benefits still easily achieved by listening to books too, instead of reading them the old-fashioned way of turning the pages of book? 

I am a visual learner which means listening is not my thing (a trait I am blessed with to tune out noise I don’t wish to listen to). In the beginning, I found it a bit hard going concentrating on the the spoken word by letting my mind wander on other matters but as time went by, it has become much easier. I still read traditional books, usually in the morning when my eyes are still fresh. However, with my other mode of reading which is listening to audio books, I feel I can read more books than was previously practical. An audio book which can be anywhere from 6 - 25 hours can be finished well within a week(directly proportional to the laundry, food prepping and walking you have!) while a traditional book can stretch from a fortnight to sometimes a month. 

Now that I am quite comfortable with the fact that reading should not be dictated by parameters or rules as to what good reading amounts to, I am able to accomplish so much more. I am a hardened multi-tasker so listening to audio books allows me to indulge in my other passions too. Just the other night I crocheted a beanie for my daughter, I paint, I cook, I clean   while immersed in another world of books. When I am out gardening though, I reserve that quiet time for my own thoughts - no multi-tasking with audio books then. 

Making sense of words from a page is a deeply personal experience because you are on your own to configure the meaning and I still cherish reading fiction through traditional books. However, I love reading memoirs of great men and women who through their courage, vision and ingenuity have changed our world and who have inspired us to reach for greater heights too. Most of these autobiographies are read by the authors themselves. I have to confess that no old fashioned book would have produced the same degree of ecstasy that I experienced when I listened to the mellifluous voice of Bob Igor, as he details the lessons he learned in the 15 years at the helm as CEO of Walt Disney. If ever I admire an inspirational leader, it is undoubtedly this man who entertained me on Google Play(another Audio book App) in his enthralling audio book “The Ride of a Lifetime” where he concurs that it is possible to make ethical and honest business decisions. 

If you haven’t tried audio books yet, I highly recommend it. You can download the Audible App on your smartphone and there is a free one month trial with a free book of your choice. 

If you have kids of school going age, I would encourage you to get them onto audio books as well. This is the link to an article I wrote especially for them some time ago. 

https://www.facebook.com/notes/kip-mcgrath-varsity-lakes/top-10-kips-tips-on-introducing-audiobooks-to-kids/1785037875073616/

Happy listening and have a fabulous week, folks.

#audiobooks

Better to be the Average Joe than Top Three

“Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses — especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else.”

— Leonardo Da Vinci

Now that we are asked to practise social distancing because of the global pandemic, I am working more from home. My daughter, who is usually at university, at her part-time job or busy in any one of her church meet-ups, is also at home full-time too because all her activities have come to a sudden standstill. She has been observing me these past few weeks getting on with my day and while she watched me busy on an oil painting remarked: “Mum, how is it possible to be so talented in so many things?” When I asked her what she meant, she replied, “you are good at reading, writing, technology, woodwork, gardening, handcrafts, cooking, painting, music(okay, I still can pick a tune on the recorder!), teaching, travelling, social media, blogger, and being a businesswoman.” I just smiled then and casually replied, “I try.” I didn’t notice then that she didn’t mention being a good mother, but ne’er mind. 

However, through the course of the week I gave this more thought and it occurred to me that many of the highly successful people I know, do in fact have more talents than what they are known for. While I share many interests, I dare not put myself in the same category as these highly talented and gifted individuals who are referred to as “polymaths” which in layman’s terms mean multi-talented people with interests across multiple fields like art, literature, acting, sports, music, and science”. 

The most famous polymaths in history  in terms of their greatness and influence was without doubt Aristotle who was a brilliant scientist but who also influenced the fields of logic, aesthetics, poetry, linguistics and politics. Nikola Tesla was a Serbian-American inventor, electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, physicist, mathematician, futurist and humanitarian and could speak no fewer than 8 languages. Jagdish Chandra Bose was a Bengali physicist, biologist, biophysicist, botanist, archaeologist, a connoisseur of fine arts, and an early writer of science fiction.

We also have the Renaissance polymaths like Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Galileo Galilei as well as our modern ones like Elon Musk(engineer, industrial designer, technology entrepreneur, and philanthropist), Mark Zuckerberg (software programmer, internet entrepreneur, philanthropist and spacecraft travel), Steve Jobs (business magnate, industrial designer, investor, and media proprietor) and Jamie Foxx(actor, singer, comedian, songwriter, and producer). These are  highly successful people who manage to achieve mastery across multiple industries, arts, or fields of study. So what sets them apart from most mere mortals? 

The answer is quite simple. While the majority of the population stop learning when they finish high school or university, these people have a never ending quest for learning and doing. Bryce Courtenay, one of my favourite authors who has been described as a modern day Dickens, started his writing career at the age of 50 after a successful career in advertising, penned 21 best selling novels within the span of 24 years and wrote for 12 hours a day until his death from stomach cancer at the age of 79 years. 

At the onset of the modern age, we have been influenced to think that “Jack of all trades is master of none”. At school, we have to choose our “specialist” subjects at year 10 (standard 8 in my time) that will determine the success of our future lives. If being a generalist would take you on a path to mediocrity, then why would the top five largest companies in the world be owned by polymaths: Bill Gates(Microsoft), Steve Jobs(Apple), Warren Buffet (Berskshire Hathaway), Larry Page(Google) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon). Recently, numerous studies have been conducted which points to a direct correlation between the varied interests people have, to their creative impact. 

It seems that the creative heavy weights are who they are because they marry their knowledge in the various fields they are interested in to produce their eventual inventions or ideas. Take Steve Jobs, for example; so elegantly and gracefully he combined his interests in calligraphy, design and hardware to produce the sexy Apple products. Oprah Winfrey, captures the essence of a Renaissance polymath- an icon that has dominated pop culture for decades. Like the Renaissance Man who possessed an “unquenchable curiosity” and “feverishly inventive imagination” she has shattered the proverbial glass ceiling by becoming the first female black billionaire with her exceptional capability in various fields in authorship, oratory, philanthropy, acting, research, and many more. 

While there are still parents that look forward to basking in the glory of their child achieving “straight A’s” or achieving a bag full of distinctions in their final year of school or university, I think the advice that Jack Ma, founder of Ali Baba online sales platform, gave his son makes so much sense. He advised, “you don’t need to be the top 3 in class, being in the middle is fine, so long your grades aren’t too bad. Only this kind of person has enough free time to learn other skills”. What profound wisdom! He is actually advocating that an individual should have varied interests  so that they can become fully rounded free spirits. And who knows, perhaps they would be more of a force to be reckoned with when their skills from one field affords them greater insight to develop something quite fascinating in another. 

Going back to the oil painting that I started during this social distancing period. While I have dabbled in fabric, watercolour and acrylic art before, oil painting is fairly new to me. It is hard going each day as I navigate my way as I learn about tones, values, hues, blends, shadows and shades. After two hours or so of meticulous work, I barely manage to cover a 5-centimetre square space of the canvas. Now I appreciate why these oil paintings fetch thousands of dollars. The point I am getting to though is that hard work beats talent any day of the week. 

People with multi- interests are self motivated to learn and have an insatiable curiosity. They are resilient- many a time I wanted to throw in the brushes and palette altogether as my frustrations grew with mastering the oil painting technique, but I just leave it for awhile, go and do some gardening or cooking and then come back another day to try again. That’s the beauty of having many interests as you can switch when your mood is down, do something else and then return to become more productive. Apparently Albert Einstein who was a master physicist and accomplished musician would exclaim after a recital ”I have it!”. He discovered the solution to his invention problem while playing the piano or violin. I can’t tell you how many times I made big business decisions as I reached clarity of thought while weeding or pruning. 

In this new era when there are so many unprecedented problems like the Covid-19 virus, we should open ourselves to new possibilities. Little children are so full of life and highly creative yet they are hammered into docile recipients of learning that lacks imagination and creativity. With this period of self isolation, we should encourage our children and even ourselves to pursue more interests. Today, more than never before, it has become so easy to learn through readily accessible technology with free or affordable content. 

I read once somewhere where Bill Gates stated that around 70% of the jobs of the future haven’t been invented as yet. What we can be certain about is that we need to learn and relearn a whole range of skills to adapt to the future. So while we may revere specialists now because of their big pay packages, they risk getting trapped by their narrow skills set and will find it hard to learn new stuff. Polymaths, on the other hand, are more versatile who can quickly combine their existing skill sets in a myriad of ways to solve the world’s pressing problems. So, let’s move away from wishing our kids would be top in class; rather, encourage them to try a whole variety of interests to become the best, creative problem solvers that they can be. 

#polymaths #multi-skilled #multi-talents

Seeking Solace in Solitude

“When we cannot bear to be alone, it means we do not properly value the only companion we will have from birth to death—ourselves.” ~ Eda LeShan

With the current health pandemic, we have been introduced to new phrases like “social distancing”,  “self isolation”, “quarantine” and “lockdown” which many view negatively as it cuts us off the wider society and  restricts our free movement. I don’t blame people for sharing this view because throughout history, being alone or separated from others have been given a bad rap. For instance, when we are barely knee high we are made to stand alone in the corner when we misbehave, when we chat in class, we are removed to one side to sit alone, when prisoners don’t toe the line,they are punished with solitary confinement. In movies, the bad guy is usually a hermit or a social outcast like a vampire and even in fairytales, the troll, the giant, the wolf all live alone and are the villains. So, we grow up with this belief that being alone has a negative stigma and therefore all is not well when one operates as a lone wolf. 

On the other side of the coin, a sense of community and team spirit has always been lauded as a good thing. If you are surrounded by friends, it means you are well-adjusted and happy. As a teacher at school, I did my bit of introducing a buddy to each new kid in my form class.  If you married at an eligible age then you have succeeded in making your parents proud. If kids belong to cliques  at school, they are seen as normal while the “loners” are pitied. We commiserate silently with individuals who watch a movie, dine or travel alone. We wonder what’s wrong with them for not sharing their social activities with a companion. I take my hat out for single people, especially women, who have the courage to remain uncoupled instead of bowing down to society’s pressure to settle for second or third best. 

However, there is a difference between being lonely and being alone. While loneliness causes pain brought about by isolation and alienation, solitude is a choice one deliberately makes of being alone with oneself. Loneliness is known to cause sadness and even depression, while solitude represents freedom and joy. In today’s world we seem to be connected with others in almost every waking moment. 

From the moment we arise and “Like” social media posts or acknowledge WhatsApp messages with the appropriate emojis, playing the music in the shower, listening to podcasts while running or exercising, watching the news on TV while scoffing down breakfast, turning on the radio on your way to work, to interacting almost 8 hours with your work colleagues and the added communication via emails, text messages, phone calls (FaceTime or otherwise), video conference meetings or watching YouTube, or bingeing on TV reality shows or Netflix movies or serials when we return home at the end of the day, we seem to be constantly connected. 

I am a self-confessed introvert and a creative and I treasure my times of solitude. I usually get up at 5 am ( or sunrise whichever is earlier) and have a full 3 or 4 hours to myself before the rest of the family gets up. It is my favourite time of the day as I try to remain unplugged for most of this time as I potter about in my garden, paint, cook or write. The unparalleled joy of being one with myself allows me the quiet time to reflect, create and evaluate. In these moments with just me, myself and I, I visualise, take risks, contemplate on business decisions and try new things. I am a secondary thinker - I hardly ever flip my handle when someone gets my goat (my daughter constantly accuses me of clamming up when there’s confrontation as she feels robbed of a healthy yelling match). I prefer to save my reaction for later and during this quiet time, I mull over various angles as I critically weigh viewpoints and contemplate on my response. I always feel confident that when I eventually have my say, it is objective, rational and fair. Often we are swayed with the thoughts, feelings, actions and beliefs of people in our immediate circle but there is something fundamentally refreshing about having clarity and making up your own mind. This is only possible when you take off your social mask. 

As evidenced in mass media, many  couples borrow Jerry Maguire’s quote “you complete me” in a romantic moment. This line never sat well with me because essentially what it suggests is that you are not a whole person and that you need a significant other to  complement you so that you feel whole. No wonder there are so many separations or divorces because people depend on others for their happiness. Or couples breaking up after 20 - 25 years of marriage - when their kids fly the nest, they cannot live with each other anymore because they lived their whole lives for their offsprings. I believe strongly that you need alone time to get to know and love yourself and once you have a healthy relationship with yourself, your relationships with others become much richer and more productive. 

Most leading minds have championed the benefits of solitude which has undoubtedly led them to be the movers and shakers of the world. Almost all of them needed the freedom to be on their own as they invented, painted, composed, wrote or philosophised. Thomas Edison, arguably the greatest inventor of all times said “The best thinking has been done in solitude”, the famous Spanish painter and sculptor , Pablo Picasso, cried “Without great solitude no serious work is possible”, and inventor, engineer and futurist, Nikola Tesla said unabashedly, “The mind is sharper and keener in seclusion and uninterrupted solitude. Originality thrives in seclusion free of outside influences beating upon us to cripple the creative mind. Be alone—that is the secret of invention: be alone, that is when ideas are born.” 

Instead of bemoaning this period of social distancing, use it as a catalyst to steal quiet moments for yourself. Embrace this opportunity to retreat from the proverbial rat race as you surf solo to get to know yourself. Being alone can be confronting to those that need to be constantly in the company of others because we humans are essentially wired to be social beings. But, like all things, it gets easier. Start with small steps like turning off the radio while travelling, going for a short walk, working in your garden, doing yoga on your own, reading a scripture or just closing your eyes and being alone with your thoughts. You have to be intentional about solitary reflection - you got to schedule in the time until it becomes a habit. 

To embrace the concept of solitude, you don’t need to live the life of a monk in the Himalayas or seclude yourself like a hermit in a hut in the deep forest. It simply means carving into your present, hectic life a little bit of alone time  so that you find some solace in solitude to get to know yourself. 

In closing, I borrow the immortal words of American writer and naturalist, Joseph Wood Krutch, who said “To have passed through life and never experienced solitude is to have never known oneself. To have never known oneself is to have never known anyone.” ~ ‘The Desert Year’

Stay safe, folks.