Audio
An Invitation to Listen
Audio is an invitation to listen, to be engaged and enriched through one-on-one storytelling, anytime and in any place, through the caring, compassionate, and friendly voices of Chronic Joy’s guest writers and of our own Voices of Chronic Joy® volunteers.
Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing. 1 Thessalonians 5:11
AUDIO BLOGS– SIGNIFICANT, RELEVANT, COMPELLING
An estimated 286 million people worldwide are visually impaired. Globally, 1 in 10 people live with dyslexia, and an estimated 69 million more people experience a traumatic brain injury each year, making reading difficult or impossible.
In addition, those with chronic illness, mental illness, chronic pain, brain fog, exhaustion, insufficient sleep, nutrient deficiency, and side effects from medications can struggle to concentrate, focus thoughts, or comprehend what they read, adding frustration, grief, and shame to the mix.
Chronic Joy’s deep desire to meet people where they are at, with the tools they need, in formats they can easily access, prompted our first steps into audio during the summer of 2020.
CONNECT WITH CHRONIC JOY WRITERS AND VOLUNTEERS
We, as humans, are created for story. “We think in stories, remember in stories, and turn just about everything we experience into a story …” writes Carl Alviani.
Story is the backbone of Chronic Joy!
Our audio is an invitation to listen, to be engaged and enriched through one-on-one storytelling, anytime and in any place, through the caring, compassionate, and friendly voices of Chronic Joy’s guest writers and of our very own Voices of Chronic Joy® volunteers.
AUDIO – GROWING IN ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVITY
Accessibility affects every one of us, and “should be built into the DNA of an organization,” says @FLLegal.
Rachael Bradley Montgomery adds, “Becoming accessible is a journey but it is one worth doing right.” We agree. Our greatest hope is for Chronic Joy® to grow into a welcoming, inviting, accessible, and inclusive ministry built for everyone.
“Every member of the Body of Christ is vital, integral, and necessary. Without even one the Body is incomplete.” Cindee Snider Re
Today, ”if your symptoms are preventing you from reading, you still have options!” writes Glenn A. “You can listen to audio.”
Join us! Scroll down, wander through our audio blog, slip on your headphones, and let our audio soothe your weary soul.
Audio Blogs
Permission to Be Reckless • Abandoning Self to God
Reckless abandon - giving self in total surrender to God. Is it scary? You bet. I open my hands, trusting God will catch me. If that's too much, try this: Surrender your words, then write your poem. Allow the wonder of a new thing.
Anxiety as a Long Term Guest • Learning from Anxiety
The way I see it, anxiety’s not always a criminal who picks the lock of your soul and takes you hostage until you give something up, whatever that “something” is. Though it does feel as if anxiety breaks into our souls like a thief, he doesn’t seem to want to take something and go. He stays. He lingers.
3 Observations about God’s Creativity and Glory
Nature gives us incredible reasons to glorify and praise God. To see the works of His hands is to see the creativity of God.
For a Mother’s Soul • Scriptures to Encourage Your Heart
May these Bible verses be balm for a mother's soul and be words of truth that will lift you up as you continue in your parenting journey.
Audio’s Significant Benefits
AUDIO CAN LIGHTEN LONELINESS
Audio blogs offer a priceless human connection for those struggling with isolation and loneliness. The simple sound of a caring and compassionate human voice is like having a companion in the room keeping us company for a little while.
“There is something very comforting about having someone read to you … Audio delivers that same sort of intimacy,” writes David Lyman.
AUDIO CAN QUIET ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
Anxiety and depression can make it challenging to quiet our thoughts and still our minds. On difficult days, audio offers an opportunity focus on a single voice, to listen, learn, and rest.
Mary Ellen, who has Bipolar Disorder, writes, “I was utterly broken a few years ago when I discovered that reading was giving me heart palpitations and an intense sensation of panic. Listening to audio means I can put on my headphones, press play, and carve out space to step away from the world for a time.”
AUDIO CAN HELP US MANAGE CHRONIC PAIN
Chronic pain can feel very limiting. Audio can help. A recent study by Science Daily found that “mental distractions actually inhibit the response to incoming pain signals at the earliest stage of central pain processing.”
Katrina Zulak writes, “The great part about audio is that you can lie down and rest in the most comfortable position you can find while you listen.”
Heather adds, “By listening … I can concentrate on the story instead of the pain.”
AUDIO IS AVAILABLE AT ALL TIMES AND IN ALL PLACES
Chronic Joy® audio blogs are available day or night, whenever, wherever, and however we are. We can listen as we exercise, commute, fold laundry, make dinner, or cut the grass, after settling into a comfortable spot, or pouring ourselves a fresh cup of coffee, and in the still of the night when our minds are anything but still, audio is available.
AUDIO IS AN ASSET TO THOSE WITH CHRONIC CONDITIONS, INCLUDING TRAUMA
“Concentration problems happen in all sorts of illnesses,” writes Alyssa Williamson, a psychotherapist who specializes in trauma. Conditions like:
- Visual Impairments: Vision Impact Institute
- Depression and Anxiety: Anxiety and Depression Association of America
- Dyslexia: International Dyslexia Association
- Migraine: Migraine Again
- Meniere’s Disease: American Hearing Research Foundation
- Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) : CHADD
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): Brain & Behavior Research Foundation
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS)/Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME): Solve CFS
- Ehlers-Danlos Syndromes (EDS)/Hypermobility Spectrum Disorders (HSSD): The Ehlers-Danlos Society
- Dysautonomia: Dysautonomia International
- Paralysis: Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation
- Autism: Autism Speaks
- Cerebral Palsy (CP) : International Cerebral Palsy Society
- Stroke: World Stroke Organization
- Multiple Sclerosis: International MS Federation
- Epilepsy: Epilepsy Foundation
- Literacy: World Literacy Foundation
- Learning Disabilities: LDA – Learning Disabilities Association of America
- Developmental Disabilities: The Arc
- Symptoms such as exhaustion, weakness, brain fog, and insomnia
Even More
CHALLENGES AND JOYS OF LIVING WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS
CHALLENGES AND JOYS OF MARRIAGE WITH CHRONIC ILLNESS