•7:03 PM
You may think this hobby unique, you may call me strange for it, perhaps you will just wonder what compels me to enjoy it, but when you look at the member list of 20,000 names perhaps your point of view will shift a little. Instead you will wonder how you have not heard of this before, you will begin to ponder if you might enjoy it since so many others do, and you might just step into this strange world of mine and become addicted as well.
For me it began with the word 'free'. I was allured to that. I forget what first caused me to stumble across the site. At first it started with just listening. As I listened to the intro of each chapter I started to think, "I could do that." Then it shifted to curiosity, "I wonder what its like to do that." I started browsing the forums wondering if I dared enter this world that seemed so different and so alluring.
So I went and bought the cheapest mic I could, I set it up, signed up for 1 chapter and I was hooked. A year and a half later and I am already considering how I can get a better mic as I sign up for my second solo project.
Perhaps you will find yourself, one day, writing a similar story. Perhaps you will find your place in the community of volunteers who enjoy seeing the public domain library grow and expand for unexplainable reasons. Perhaps you will know the sense of pride and accomplishment when you finish an entire book on your own. Or perhaps you will join the more silent but completely necessary community of PLs and MCs. Perhaps you will understand what these terms mean. Perhaps you will simply be a dedicated listener, enjoying the wonderful classics that are out there, listening to a world of forgotten but wonderful stories.
Regardless you won't know until you try. You may surprise yourself and find yourself immersed into a new wonderful world.
Or you may continue to think that this is a unique hobby that makes me a little strange and wonder why I enjoy it.
For me it began with the word 'free'. I was allured to that. I forget what first caused me to stumble across the site. At first it started with just listening. As I listened to the intro of each chapter I started to think, "I could do that." Then it shifted to curiosity, "I wonder what its like to do that." I started browsing the forums wondering if I dared enter this world that seemed so different and so alluring.
So I went and bought the cheapest mic I could, I set it up, signed up for 1 chapter and I was hooked. A year and a half later and I am already considering how I can get a better mic as I sign up for my second solo project.
Perhaps you will find yourself, one day, writing a similar story. Perhaps you will find your place in the community of volunteers who enjoy seeing the public domain library grow and expand for unexplainable reasons. Perhaps you will know the sense of pride and accomplishment when you finish an entire book on your own. Or perhaps you will join the more silent but completely necessary community of PLs and MCs. Perhaps you will understand what these terms mean. Perhaps you will simply be a dedicated listener, enjoying the wonderful classics that are out there, listening to a world of forgotten but wonderful stories.
Regardless you won't know until you try. You may surprise yourself and find yourself immersed into a new wonderful world.
Or you may continue to think that this is a unique hobby that makes me a little strange and wonder why I enjoy it.
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3 comments:
Ah, wonderful. Yes, one strange, addictive, alluring and unique hobby we've got =D
When someone asks me "why do you do it?" I never know how to answer. That's the most humorous part to me, I myself cannot even figure out why I enjoy it so much. :)
Similarly I've had trouble explaining why I do it (OK, did it as I haven't recorded anything other than my podcast for quite some time) even to myself. I think the sense of achievement is key. I remember reading something recently about the most successful or most likely to happen projects are those where you can achieve something significant in a weekend.
The Librivox projects are broken down into sections where you can achieve a reading in a weekend and that reading can be viewed as a finished thing. The sense of achievement is wonderful and exhilarating.