Shiny Toys

Ah Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a confession to make, I have sucuumbed. I am now the proud (sheepish) owner of a Kindle. For all of you who I ranted at, that such a thing would never be possible...yes, I know. This lady was indeed for turning.

Nine days in London, away from my library (2 floor to ceiling alcove book shelves, 3 standard book shelves) and I realised I wanted the convenience of having all of that available to me at the push of a button.

I did try to use my shiny, new iPod Touch to read. But the small screen and my fast reading pace made it impossible for me to concentrate because I was constantly scrolling. Yes, I do read fast. I can read a 50,000 page Mills and Boon in an hour and a half, I can read a novel in under 4 hours if I'm engaged.

Having done the NLP Course (and here you were thinking you'd got away with one post not being about the course) made me think about the way I read. For me, reading is an active process. I turn the words into a movie, which I then step into and live out. Any writing which is turgid (which a lot of literature is) or just down-right appalling (think Dan Brown) seriously interferes with this and leads to a lot of grumbling and book flinging across the room. This has it's up sides and it's down sides. It means I when I get 'into' a book, I really enjoy it and interuptions are not welcomed. I've learnt not to read novels when I've got other things to do. Other things to do, tend not to get done. The serious downside to this, is that reading for knowledge acquisiton is more like hard work. You can't create pictures out of Management Accounting for Decision Makers (yes, this really is the title of a book, currently languishing on my bookshelf).

I realise now how much NLP suits my learning style. I really enjoyed that tranced-out learning, letting the knowledge seep into my skin and then letting my unconscious process everything. We didn't take notes during the 9 days. In fact, there were serious words from the speakers when people got their pens and paper out.

I'm getting really curious about how to use NLP more for knowledge acquisition and education. I wonder if it would be possible to explore new ways of learning, using NLP? As someone who thrives on learning and knowledge acquisition, I'm committed to that lovely phrase 'life long learning'. This current UK government seems to be doing it's best to tear down the traditional bastions of learning, so I wonder whether it would be possible to turn this threat into an opportunity?

This is merely a random thought. Obviously, I don't have enough knowledge and experience with NLP to answer these questions, nor indeed have an educational background (I have a learning background). But it's enough to make me start thinking....hmmmm.....