A Lifelong Affair with Books
Books. I love books. Do you? My love affair with books began in my childhood and has only grown stronger over the years. Whether it’s the tactile pleasure of a physical book or the convenience of an e-book, my passion for reading knows no bounds. Today, I want to share my journey with books and how important they are in my life, especially as a multi-passionate person.
The Allure of E-Books: Convenience Meets Affordability
E-books have revolutionized the way I consume literature. They’re cheaper than paperbacks, allowing me to indulge in more fiction without breaking the bank. The digital format means they don’t take up space on my shelves, and I can carry an entire library in my pocket. The ability to adjust font size and read in the dark with an external light adds to their appeal. For these reasons, e-books have become an integral part of my reading experience.
Do you read ebooks or are you an advocate of paper and ink?
The Irreplaceable Charm of Physical Books
Despite the convenience of e-books, there’s something irreplaceable about holding a physical book. For nonfiction, physical books are superior as reference materials. The ease of flipping through pages, marking spots with bookmarks you can see sticking out from inside, and the tactile experience of glossy coffee-table books cannot be replicated digitally. These books are not just for reading; they’re for savouring.
Books as Gateways to Imagination
From a young age, books have been my escape into worlds beyond my own. They offer a respite from the demands of daily life, allowing me to immerse myself in stories without the need to make decisions. Reading is a quiet, peaceful activity that suits my autistic nature. It’s a journey where I’m simply along for the ride, and it’s a journey I cherish.
The Connection Between Devouring Books and Neurodivergence
The extraordinary reading skills I’ve had since early childhood are known as hyperlexia, a form of pattern recognition common in twice-exceptional autistic individuals. High levels of pattern recognition skills with numbers have long been recognised in relation to autistic people, but it can also appear in relation to written language. Did my love of books develop because reading was easy for me, or did my fascination with books fuel my learning to read? A bit of both I expect.
Though reading was my autistic ‘special interest’, within that I read a wide variety of genres and topics because I had diverse interests, and still do. Neurodivergent people tend to be curious about their world, and I certainly was. I wanted to know about everything, and books gave me the way to do that. I read about how things work, about art and artists, nature and biology, mind and spirit, and lots of stories. One of the flexibilities of an ADHD brain is its ability to flip from topic to topic and consume any information that grabs and holds attention.
But as an adult, in terms of career, one is supposed to choose one area of interest and pursue that.
Choose One Interest? Are You kidding Me?
Like all multipotentiates and most people with ADHD, I found choosing one out of my many interests difficult, so I took to choosing jobs that included as many of my interests in one job as possible—art, writing, nature and spirituality. I went from primary school teaching to performing and creating visual theatre to creative-and-performing-arts teaching and then to writing, editing and publishing, all while keeping up some kind of artistic hobby. Now I earn my money as an editor and publisher, but I also write, make art, and contemplate the nature of reality because each of those is important to me. And when the inspiration takes me, it’s almost impossible to resist.
I have no problem with flitting from one inspiration to another, but social media and search-engine optimisation demand that our accounts and website be about just one thing so as to make our writings and products easy to categorise and find. That makes it necessary for multi-passionate people to have different websites and accounts for different aspects of our interests. I have 5 websites and 3 different Instagram profiles and I’ve long wished for a way to bring all my art forms together.
This is where the books walk back in …
Bringing It Together: A Multi-Passionate Journey
The advent of AI art opened a new world for me. Given the ease with which I could illustrate an idea, it made it possible for me to express myself not by choosing between writing or making art, but bringing both together. Psychemagination: Journey into the Psyche was the first art I did that combined visual imagery and the written word – initially as AI art video and soon in book form (see below). I felt such joy when I realised that that project allowed me to combine all my interests in one art form. But I still had a separate website for it!
Oh how I longed to bring my interests all together here, where people could get to know the complete me, not just one facet. Where I could write about all my interests and draw other multi-passionate people with similar interests. Look around this website, and you’ll see that I‘ve done it. Originally this website was for me as an author, then it became me as an editor, now it’s just me. And what allowed me to bring it all together is – did you guess it? – books.
Seems obvious given my lifelong passion for reading and writing!
Back to Books
In a flash of insight one day, I realised that my passion for story, nature, and investigating mind and spirit come through in all my books – yes, there’s even a psychological aspect to my book on writing. Now that I can create illustrated books, I can bring in the art as well.
After writing and publishing 10 books, I stopped writing because once a book is published, it needs promotion, and the thought of all that entailed was enough to squash any desire to even begin. But embracing AI art to illustrate my writing and psychospiritual insights has reignited my passion for writing and creating books. And oh, how beautiful these books will be. I don’t care if no one buys them because it’s going to be wonderful to have one on my coffee table where I can open it up randomly and enjoy the pictures and words. (But, of course, I do hope I will find others who will enjoy them as well. Might you be one such person?)
Where story meets symbolism
Books, reading, writing and illustrating them, are the thread that weaves all my passions together. They are where story meets symbolism, where language meets imagery, and where intellect meets intuition. And now, they are also where healing meets creativity.
My first illustrated book is the embodiment of this fusion—a convergence of words and art designed not just to be read or admired, but to be experienced. It brings together my love of narrative, my fascination with the psyche, and the therapeutic value I’ve found in visual expression. The images are not just decorative; they are introspective, symbolic, and emotionally resonant. They invite the reader to pause, reflect, and connect with something deeper within themselves.
This book isn’t just a book. It’s an offering—a moment of stillness in a chaotic world, a tool for inner exploration, and a celebration of the beauty that can arise when we allow all parts of ourselves to speak through creativity. It represents my desire to honour the many threads of my life—neurodivergence, spirituality, art, nature, and story—and to share something that might speak to others walking similar paths.
So, if you’ve ever felt torn between your passions, or longed to bring them together in a way that feels whole and true, I invite you to explore this new book. It’s not just a project—it’s a piece of my soul made visible.
You can read a little bit about it below.
Let me know what you think. And tell me—what passions are waiting to be woven together in your own life?
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