the solution that works out the most for me is reading WHILE listening to something
my brain loves to overthink and catastrophise so when i have free time (like in the evenings or when im on the bus/subway) i LOVE to think of worst case scenarios of everything and gaslight myself into thinking that all these horrible scenarios are reality. i tried many things to stop the negative thoughts from coming — history podcasts, language podcasts, life advice podcasts, listening to new indie albums —but it didn't feel right. personally i probably don't like podcasts because i've always been a reading/writing person i.e. i absorb information the best when it's presented in textual form
then one day i saw a book on my shelf — NW by zadie smith. it was a book that i read for a class in university, but never finished it because i found it hard to follow. i thought "maybe i should finish this book" and started to read it again. but it was STILL hard to follow and my negative thoughts kept sneaking their way in. so i had the idea of listening to its audiobook version so that it could help me follow along with the book. and it WORKED — the voice of the audiobook not only helped me follow the book but also kept all thoughts from sneaking into my mind
i managed to read many books this way — with a library card most of the audiobooks i needed were available — and in recent months, as i've been feeling better, i've switched to classical music. honestly there's only two classical pieces that i listen to, because i like them THAT much. but reading while listening has honestly kept me so sane in 2024, and even though i never plan what books to read (i just have a to-read list that's always been there), i happen to stumble upon so many beautiful stories
might post my reading list next — it's mostly modern japanese literature now, and every book has been a gem
📷 pictured is some of the books i downloaded onto my kindle after deciding that i would embark upon this reading-healing journey, it gave me so much excitement to start (and as of now i've read 4 of the books displayed here)