Part 3 – Dyslexia: An Ability – Written By Ian Whelan

I used to sit in my friend Ant’s garage as he tinkered with the engine of someone’s car, chatting about all sorts of unusual subjects and pondering all kinds of world wonders. I guess one of our favourite subjects was the Egyptian pyramids and how they don’t seem to fit in with our historical timeline.

During one of our conversations, Ant told me about how Albert Einstein’s Theory of Relativity had came to him in a dream about cows. Apparently, he had dreamt he was standing in a field, and as he walked forward, he came upon some cows by an electric fence. He then saw the cows jump simultaneously as the fence gave them all an electric shock. But a farmer, standing at the other end of the field, saw them jump one by one like a Mexican wave. So, Einstein realised their views of the same event had been different. This, according to Ant, led to Einstein’s Theory of Relativity.

How wonderful me did think… for I, little Ian the dyslexic bean, also experienced unusual dreams, and have done since I was but a little crater. Over the next couple of years, I started drawing my dreams in the form of hieroglyphics; I initially tried to spell them down on a page, but the words kept jumping around, and the predictive text kept changing their meaning. So, you see, when I look at words, I first see the letters as individual pictures that tell a different story to what the creator of the word had in mind.

When I look up the meaning of words, I do so using an image search first, then study the many pictures representing the word I’m trying to understand. I do it this way because the images give a broader sense of how people interpret the meaning of words. I then try to find the origin of the word. You see, as a Dyslexic, words have an awful habit of bumping into each other.

Most of what I have written down and drawn over the years comes from my dreams. In addition, I listen to many diverse opinions on a multitude of what seems unconnected subjects to come to my interpretation of meaning.

There is also one other element that I use to create my writings and drawings: my memories of my past lives. But, you see, coming for dirty auld Dublin where we eat potatoes all day long, drink Guinness, curse, and say our prayers, there was not much point in openly speaking about such garbled nonsense. Talking about incarnation, especially when the world thinks you are a Thick’O already, would be frowned upon at best. So instead, I would speak about what I remembered from my past lives in the context of what I had read in a book or seen on TV. The ideas I suggested came from the mind of something much wiser than myself, and I have found that people handle new ideas much easier this way rather than openly speaking about the memories of a strange auld soul questioning everything.

I now listen to a lot of science and constantly study all the different religions, mythologies and just about anything that tickles me fancy. However, I don’t do it for any traditional sense of belief or even understanding, but more so to understand the different mindsets that divide and unite our world. I like to delve into how these mindsets of our collective humankind have changed through the process of discovery and how they remain so stuck in the mud on some particular subjects.

My hunger for information continues to grow at an alarming rate, and I continue to study, create and enjoy the blessing of being Dyslexic; which I believe is my ability! I see the world from a completely different perspective, giving much more meaning to things not seen by most others.

Do you fancy expressing yourself through writing? Whatever your ability, join me for Creative Writing by Birchwood!