My life has changed significantly over the two months since I bought my first dedicated eBook reader.
1. I spend much less time reading fiction and much more time reading forum posts here (having never frequented forums before), reading software and hardware reviews pertaining to eBooks (didn't care about them before); configuring eBook readers and other applications such as calibre; and learning scripting languages that have changed a lot since I last scripted a decade ago.
2. As a retired, divorced, childless social hermit I found it necessary to reengage with the human race in an effort to learn how to do some of the things mentioned in #1. This entailed having to relearn some communication skills and work on limiting previously habitual displays of crotchety old cussing and mumbling that didn't matter when I had no audience.
3. As a result of #2 I felt more inclined to initiate actual contact with real live un-virtual and un-fictional humans. I called one of my brothers who I hadn't talked to in years and somehow we jump-started that estranged relationship into something better. I've been calling my family-of-origin siblings regularly when previously we didn't speak unless they called me first. I'm even planning to call my x-wife who I haven't spoken with in 20 years, as soon as I gird up some courage, just to catch up on how she's doing. "Catching up" with humans who are no longer in my home or close environment is something I never cared about before.
4. I stopped going on buying sprees of physical treebooks at local bookstores and at Amazon. At first I bought a few eBooks and downloaded a lot of free eBooks, then put eBook acquisition on hold while I figured out how I want to build an eBook library and phase out my pBook library.
5. The eBooks I've downloaded include many authors and even some genres I didn't previously collect, because for some strange reason the eBook experience gives me permission (unconsciously) for a greater freedom of choice, probably as a consequence of breaking the pBook habits or ruts that I'd acquired over 40+ years.
6. Generally my mood has brightened, my cynicism has lessened, my optimism has increased, my isolation has lessened, my engagement in my own life has increased.
Before I retired I was in the computer field. My first career before that was as a social worker and human counselor for 10 years, believe it or not, lol. Human behavior used to intrigue me until I burned out and decided computers were easier to deal with. Lately human behavior has begun to catch my attention again.
Thank you, sunlioness, for starting an interesting thread and giving me occasion to do a self-status-check.
