So I took a break. Buried myself in fluffy things like romance and fun mysteries. But the world has stayed difficult, we entered into a pandemic that doesn’t appear to have an end in sight. Reading has always been a constant throughout my life and I found myself feeling that I could either find ways to adapt or end up incredibly frustrated that my reading life was being altered. I didn’t want to keep avoiding tough topics all the time. There are books I really want to read, so I’ve found some ways, when I can, to balance the weight of needing to stay away from breaking myself further and still diving into what may be tough topics. Here are a few of them.
Pick A Format That Allows You The Space You Need
If you need to skip a paragraph, or put the book down, is it easier to do that in digital, audio, or print? Does a narrator, with possibly a soothing voice, make it easier to hear a story (fictional or not) or can you get more space if you control the narration? Sometimes it can make a significant difference if you are able to choose between formats and figure out how they may reduce or increase the impact.
Plan To Read It In Pieces With A Soothing Followup
You don’t have to plow through, you can take your time — as much as necessary. Maybe only tackle one chapter. Maybe ten pages. You could go by feeling: when it gets too much just put in your favorite bookmark. Have on the ready a followup like a comic book, something funny, maybe save the day’s Wordle for this moment, a coloring book, or a crossword puzzle. You could plan the day’s meditation, yoga, or exercise for whenever you put the book down.
If You Listen to Audiobooks, Pick A Countering Task
If your format of choice is audiobook, it can be really helpful to think beforehand of what task to pair with a potentially tough topic. I’ve found conquering a giant jigsaw puzzle puts me in a relaxed state, which helps. In the opposite direction, doing housecleaning kind of pairs two things that may aggravate me together to get it over with. If you crochet or garden to relax, those are also great options. As is the idea of pairing it with exercise like dog walking or running, it’s almost like exerting out the emotional response. So far these adjustments have helped me get back to reading tough topics more frequently, and if you’ve found yourself in a similar situation, I hope something here may help.
