I hope your 2023 is going well. Apparently at this point we have reached ‘Blue Monday’ whereby we have all thrown our resolutions out the window and thought ‘forget that’.
Well how about instead of forgetting that resolution you just hit pause instead? I mean did you pick something impossible to give up? Do you try a new hobby which is becoming more of a chore? Perhaps you picked more than one resolution?
I haven’t bothered with anything this year which is too taxing, I want to enjoy more audiobooks because I like reading. That’s it. I just want to do one thing which I enjoy.
Plus I can incorporate another thing I love- tea. I absolutely love tea. As I am writing this I am enjoying a cup of Twinnings Lemon and Ginger tea. It is quite warming. Its good to relax with.
One thing I realised last year is I can feel overwhelmed at times which gets my head overwhelmed. It might not be a lot by other peoples standards, but to me it is a lot. Which is why, by focussing on books and tea I can tell myself to slow down and be kind to myself. So ask yourself, is your resolution allowing you to be kind to yourself? Mine hopefully will.
I can use books to learn more, I can use them to relax and unwind. Books are amazing to me and I used to love reading physical books. I am grateful audiobooks are a thing because if they were not I would have fallen out of love with reading, as I almost did.
So please remember to be kind in whatever goal you have given yourself. It is only the 16th of January. We still have plenty of time.
First blog post of 2023. I have taken a bit of time away from writing blogs as things were very busy over the past few months.
I wanted to write today about what I would like to do over the next year, not so much goals as I am not a fan of goal setting. But more building on what I enjoyed last year.
Last year my blog did better than the year before in that I got a lot more interaction with it which was lovely to see. It is nice to know what I am writing is helping others. I appreciate you taking the time to leave comments.
I would also like this year to continue with my audiobooks. I really enjoy listening to them, when I am just about the house or before bed. I don’t listen to them when I am out and about. That’s more music.
Last year I listened to a lot of audiobooks on Autism, I also listened to some biographies. Then I started listening to books on self compassion. So I am branching out on my reading.
The self compassion ones are nice as they can pair with the books around Autism. I will continue with these this year.
This week we have World Book Day coming up on the 3rd of March. Last year I did a small blog about what I had I had been listening too and I thought I would write another one about my love of reading.
Quite often you may see the discussion around are Audiobooks really reading? In my opinion, yes it is. For one reason I am Visually Impaired and without AudioBooks I would have lost the ability to do one of my favourite things. Reading.
When it comes to rereading I enjoy a variety of different books, unfortunately fiction is not something I am listen to very often.
My latest listen is ‘All of the Marvels’. This book is great because it goes into a lot of detail about the Marvel Universe and how it has grown over time, the way it has addressed issues going on in the world and how it has an infinite scope to just keep going. If you are a fan of Marvel I would definitely give this one a read.
When it comes to books I love that you can always learn something. The argument that audiobooks are not really reading is pointless in my opinion. If you are enjoying them, if you’re learning something, if they are helping get you through the day then what’s the argument, really?
Stories and books should be for everyone. Whether you’re Visually Impaired and can’t see the book, or you’re Dyslexic and you struggle to follow along. It should not matter. Books are there to be enjoyed and if you enjoy reading then enjoy it by whatever medium you see fit.
What books have you been reading lately? Don’t forget to check out #WritingCommunity on Twitter. Charity Shops are a great place to pick up books.
So here we are a few weeks into 2022. It’s scary isn’t it?
Well I thought I’d take the time to stop and reflect a little on where I’m at after a busy 2021.
Last year I pushed myself out my comfort zone quite a bit with work and loved it. I’m aiming to do the same this year.
The other thing I really want to do more of this year is listen to more audio books. I know I said this last year. My brother got me another Audible Subscription. I recently finished Divergent Mind by Janera Nerenberg. This book was fabulous. It really resonated with me a lot of the things she was saying.
It can be very tough finding the answers you’ve been searching for for so long and never quite being able to understand. Books like Divergent Mind, Neurotribes By Steve Silberman and Odd Girl Out by Laura James are incurable reads. Which for me, really helped me to understand more of myself which I have never fully understood. But that’s not for this blog…
I don’t normally set a lot of goals for the year, I find when you do, you can get quite down when you don’t achieve them. But I would love to listen to more audiobooks. I want to go to London and visit my brother. I would also love to be able to see more of my friends.
We all know the last few years has been exceptionally hard. I’ve just had a few days off and the other day I got to see my friend who I haven’t seen in two years. We went for afternoon tea. It was lovely. We didn’t hug. Hopefully next time. Stupid Rona. I missed my friend.
I hope you all have plans for 2022 which you manage to achieve.Remember if you can’t achieve them all, It’s OK. Set a few loose ones you know you want to achieve. Then you can feel accomplished and feel better.
I’m off now, I have a few things to crack on with. But I’ll be back soon.
I’m back after my Covid Vaccine, but that’s to be written about in another blog. I am feeling very grateful though that I received the vaccine.
Today is World Book Day and for as long I can remember I have loved books. I always enjoyed English at school and it was probably one of my favourite subjects. No wonder I opted for an English based Degree in Media Studies.
Do you remember in primary school when you used to get a new book? There was one occasion I remember trying to pick a book and putting it back and choosing from another basket. The teacher told me I had to chose a book which went alongside my reading level. This irritated me. I told them what kind of books I was reading at home and didn’t understand why I had to chose from the book box with my reading level. Eventually we came to a decision. If I read the books and brought them back quickly then I could move up the levels quicker. I did this and got to read harder books and proved a point which we all knew I could do, but for the sake of the system I had to have it noted down.
Reflecting on this and the fact that it is World Book Day I have been wondering how many books was I aware of when I was younger which featured Disabled people? What is that representation like now?
Looking back I do not really remember that many books, especially from when I was younger which featured Disabled characters. Thinking about this I have just asked my Mum if there was a character in the Biff and Chip books who was a wheelchair user. She says there was.
For World Book Day I have done a bit of looking around and found that there are some great books available which represent Disabled Children. A great article I found was in the HuffPost about a variety of books which feature Disabled people as the main characters. In the article there are a number of different representations, the best part is that in some of the books the Disability isn’t even the main plot line. Which is fantastic. After reading it I sent the article to a friend who teaches in a primary school and they loved it.
Part of the problem is not just having books about Disabled people, but also having them be written by Disabled people as well. So you know that as a Disabled child ‘hey this book has someone in it like me’ then they can be told the Author is like them too. It is about allowing people to see themselves in stories and know that the person behind the story is able to understand how they feel.
Whilst looking at wether representation is better today than it was when I was in school I came across Pablo and the Noisy Party. There is a TV series linked with the book which is brilliant because as we all know everyone learns differently. Written on the books Trust Website is ‘This empowering series competently reflects neurodiversity and like the TV series, has been developed by writers who are themselves on the Autistic spectrum, and is based on real-life experiences.’ When I saw this quote on Books Trust it made me smile to know that the comment I made in the previous paragraph is trying to be addressed. Children need to not only see themselves in books, but know those writing them are like them too.
The other part of the problem is having access to these books for all children. It can not just be the case that we talk about them only to parents of Disabled children. They need to be in book boxes in every school. Otherwise how does it just become the norm that the woman in the street is using her white stick to feel the floor beneath her feet and get around safely? Or that the man wears headphones in the supermarket and hums quietly as he puts his items into his basket because he could be Autistic?
These questions need to be addressed and by writing this blog have made you a bit more aware that these books are out there. You just need to look. But them being out there is not enough. They need to be in classrooms and libraries and they need to be seen as the norm. Hopefully by writing this and also in sharing the book list with my friend I have done something to help make a difference.
Here are the links below to some of the things I discovered whilst doing this blog.
Until next time,
Philippa B.
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Pipxar 