MFRW 52 Week Blog Challenge 2018

What can’t you live without? #MFRWAuthor

This week’s prompt: Item I can’t live without

Well, I was going to say my phone because, just like everyone else, I’m totally addicted to it. But that felt like a generic cop-out answer. The truth is that we’re all addicted to our phones, right?

But mostly because it replaced all the things! Do you remember those memes that were going around circa 2010 about all the small electronics that the iPhone replaced? Bye-bye alarm clocks, white noise machine, radios, CD players, etc? It’s true.

But it also struck me that none of us are addicted to the phone in the same way. We all use it for certain things–phone, text, camera. I take about 37 pix of Fox a day! But beyond the “basic” stuff, I mostly use my phone to read in some form or fashion.

I’ve got my Kindle app, my Audible, my Scribd app, my Libby app, my Goodreads app…I’ve got a whole screen of book-related apps! (If you need some help with using e-reading apps, check out my article–No e-reader! No problem!)

And that’s when it hit me. The item I really can’t live without? Books. In all forms and fashions.

My earliest memories center around reading. My mom took us to the local library every week and I constantly checked out a whole bag full of books. I snuck peeks at my books when I was supposed to be doing my chores. I got caught reading To Kill a Mockingbird in Spanish class in high school. All my life, I’ve rarely been without a book in my hand.

Books have been my lifelong constant companion. Today, they might be made out of bytes and bits instead of paper and glue, but it’s still the same. Reading is essential to me.

How about you? What item is essential to you?