Listening to life in stereo

The world is loud and brash sometimes.

For me, after the operation on my middle ear, this is currently true.

Years ago I noticed that I was not hearing any sound from my left ear. The immediate reaction was that there a blockage. I turned out this was not the case. The bones of my middle ear had fused together. There was no vibration and hence I heard nothing.

The impact on my life from partial hearing has been profound. Everything from not being able to interact with others in the office or down the pub, or simply not hearing stereo music on the radio. I should have done something about this problem years ago.

I didn't.

Why? I am not completely sure. Like many things I did not have full insight into the benefit of getting the issue resolved. I tried a hearing aid as sort of stop gap. That did not work very well. I was afraid of having an operation. There were many things going on in my life. I was fearful of the process that would be followed.

All these worries were needless.

Last Friday (The 13th. I am not superstitious) I went to hospital to have a bone in my middle ear replaced by a prosthetic device. This tiny little piston is now bouncing up and down inside my ear allowing sound waves to be transmitted into the inner ear and on to my brain. The operation was simple and is highly successful.

I have learnt a lesson. I must act early to sort these kind of issues that face me in my life. We all have something that is limiting us needlessly. Most of the time the solution is easier than we imagine with our worst fears. Do not hold back. face the problem and in all likely hood your fears will melt away and your life will be better for it.

And the world is so wonderful loud.

Life in the future.

So how will we live in the years to come?

Many people think that we are doomed to suffer some kind of apocalyptic consequence of the way of civilisation currently operates. Maybe?

I tend to be optimistic. There are huge challenges for us humans. We need to sort sabotaging our own life systems. We need to feed the hungry. The climate is changing. We fight constant wars with one another, the list goes on and on. I feel we will rise above all of these issues. We are creative and industrious as a species. We will survive.

But what kind of world will we live in?

I think that a thousand years from now there will be less of us on this Earth. We will balance our desire to change and progress with the need for stability.

I like the idea of 'high tech hobbit hole' living. Homes and factories semi-buried in the earth to minimise impact on the landscape. Teleworking and automation would remove the need for mass transport systems. Communications would be better. There would be more 'jaw, jaw' and less 'war, war.' I do believe, however that a basic level human beings will be the same. Maybe a little wiser though.

Who knows what will happen? It is hard to be sure but good fun to speculate. That is one of primary purposes of science fiction. Lets see...

Making a difference to others

I have been watching coverage of the Great North Run.

It is amazing to see all those people doing something positive and helping others. It is not an easy thing to do, running 13 miles on hard roads in the sort of weather we have in England at the moment. Well done guys.

One day I will do this one. It is on the list.

Writing is much like running in some ways. It takes dedication and skill to be good at it. I often wonder whether I have sufficient stamina to go the distance but the thrill I get from both writing and running sustains me and it so good to finish.

I think, for me, my life needs to change. I need to put my energy into the things I love and are (arguably) good at. I want to run more races and write more stories. I want to finish.

So that is an aspiration. I must use my abilities to help others. That is how I improve myself and my own situation. I have had the wonderful experience this year of regaining my health. Now is time to start thinking seriously of how I can repay the debt I owe.

And I hope you will like the results?

A slight pause in proceedings

My life is about to get even better.

For some time now I have only had partial hearing. The bones in my middle ear (left) fused some years ago leaving me partial deaf. I manage due to near perfect hearing in my right ear.

This is changing on Friday.

I am popping into my local hospital to have a simple operation to restore most, if not all, of my hearing in the left ear. Absolutely marvellous!

So I may not be posting much for a couple of days. I will be back by next week though.

Science and medicine can be wonderful. I am looking forward to taking advantage of the restoration of my health. This operation marks the last piece of the jigsaw. 2013 has been a very good year.

So how does this impact my writing? I will be more confident and less distracted. It is just one more boost along the way. I want to give something back through the words I use and the stories I tell. I know not everyone is as lucky as myself and I like to 'do something good' with my good fortune. So the lucky I get the more motivated I am to help others.

Stories are best when read. Mine are almost ready. Good things are going to happen...

Progress to date

I am back writing in the early mornings again.

This is the best time of day. Nature is brimming with action outside my living room windows and I don't have to worry about the day job just yet.

I want to get those words out.

There are so many stories queued up inside my head that it is starting to feel like a creative migraine. I need to finish something major soon. It is a purely psychological issue. I do not 'actually' need to do this. I have waited many long years for publication. One or two more wouldn't make a material difference but I would love to join the ranks of indie authors. I would love you guys to be able to read more of my 'stuff!'

I am getting there.

'Children of the Storm' is my fantasy novella series. Four books are planned and book one is written (as far as the first draft is concerned) I have also have a science fiction series called 'The Keodu Sequence' (Keodu is a the name of a fictional civilisation) and I have almost competed 'episode one' of this as well. So it won't be long.

I actually got paid to do some writing yesterday. It was terrific. I was writing training material for my software testing day job. Two hours of scribbling did me so much good. Writing is good for me. I would always recommend this hobby to anyone with a stress filled occupation. It is fantastic chill out magic if you ask me.

So things are under way and I am making huge progress. Watch this space folks...