Reading: My Stress Reliever

Sometimes when I am going through a lot of things that really stress me out I turn to books as a way to calm down and decompress. I get something out of quiet reading that I know that many women get from doing things like getting their nails done. It is like a reading spa that helps me take a retreat from the world.

When I do this there are a few things that I am mindful about doing:

1) Reading more escapist books. While I feel like reading can be a form of activism and that reading is a great way to expand my worldview I do get into moods where I just need lighter more escapist stories.  When I got up in the night I turned to some Harlequin Blaze books to calm down: Playing Dirty and Up in Flames. The Harlequin Blaze line has been discontinued since then but those paperbacks were still on my shelf. But regardless of the Harlequin line that I am reading I always appreciate how short and ridiculous they are.  When I am feeling this way it is not the best time to read a very hard hitting book that is designed to make me think seriously about social issues. Evicted still sits on my shelf unread.  Not everything needs to have a happy ending as I read some horror novels but I do need an element of escape. When I turn on the news I often feel overwhelmed and I do not want something that reminds me of this reality. I want to be transported into another world.

2) Not feeling rushed so I can really lose myself in a story. While quick reading on the go has a time and a place I sometimes need to just be able to focus on the story at hand, get lost in it and not worry about any distractions. This is what I consider to be “vacation” reading.  This weekend when I was in reading to destress mode I finally read Next Year in Havana  I was able to appreciate the nuances of Cuban history that the author went into in a way that I wouldn’t have the same way if I was being mindful of needing to get a task done or go somewhere.

3) Intentionally choosing some books in physical format. Well, I was REALLY excited about some library e-books that I got (Ghosted and The Merry Spinster).  I was excited to find some good books that fit my spooky mood on Kindle Unlimited (A House at the Bottom of a Lake and Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie). I really do find reading e-books to be a fun experience. However when I held Everything I Never Told You and The Air You Breath in my hands it felt like a luxurious experience.  Physically holding my Harlequins in my hand actually helps calm me down in the middle of the night when I am trying to alleviate anxiety. I have been moving to getting more of my romance novels on Kindle Unlimited and through the library these days however I can’t help but wonder about purchasing a few Harlequin paperbacks once I am more financially stable for the sake of having them around for the same purpose that I always have mint tea around. They have a very calming effect on me.

4) Not doing any reading that is explicitly for a project. I am really excited about some potential selections for my next Twin Cities Geek article but I did not touch those because I make sure to read more critically when I read for Twin Cities Geek  Geek. I am enjoying my Book Riot Challenge  as it helps me find ways to read books I might not normally consider on my own but for now I am more concerned with my mood. But it just so happens that I can count Little Slaughterhouse on the Prairie as my true crime selection. I want to make sure to read the Book of the Month selections I already own and haven’t read this week before I get my next installment in the mail. It just so happens that I felt like reading it.

I finally read Less which won the Pulitzer Prize award this year but that was because I felt like reading that particular book, not because I was determined to read something that I could now check off my list of Pulitzers. Reading  the Pulitzer prize winning novels is a project that I have been committed to working my way through. It just so happens that this year’s selection was more comical than the Pulitzers usually are which made it a good selection for this weekend of reading to relieve stress.

I would honestly say that I have these different projects because I want to do them, however when I am reading to de-stress I am more concerned about my mood than checking something off on my list of various projects. In that regard I would say that there is a level of intersectionality with reading for calming myself down and reading to get a project done.  While I never completely take off my critics hat I am not going to read something that I am taking responsibility to someone else for. I am reading something only for myself.

After taking time to retreat from the world by reading these books I felt refreshed.  It doesn’t take away from the nitty gritty realities of looking for a new day job. However it does give my mind a break from the search and I came out of the weekend feeling refreshed and more ready to take on this world.