2024 had bright spots as well as challenges…and for me, it was the year that i remembered who I am and what I love. I credit all of you with spurring me on to go back to the things that make me, me. Your comments, your suggestions, the ways in which you live your lives – all of the things I love about all of you – reminded me that yes, these were things (well, many of them) that I used to love, too.
Reading This is probably the most striking change. Friends, this was the year that I rediscovered just how much I love to read. I always thought of myself as a reader, but it fell off of my priority list, replaced by work (of course), reading and/or listening to the news, and other forms of media-related and non-media related distraction. I will have a post coming up devoted to reading, books, and my love for Libby, but suffice to say that all of the library lovers in my virtual world finally changed my mind. I activated my Libby account (I had a library card already, yay). I started looking through the books they offered. And then – the event that changed everything? (This is so random, seriously…) My mom said how much she loved the audiobook version of The Dutch House, and when I said I’d never read it, she suggested I give it a try. Friends, it changed my life. I always thought that audiobooks were Not For Me. Turns out, I was listening to the wrong audiobooks. (This perspective was also likely influenced by childhood memories of listening to a CD and/or taped version of Just So Stories, a book I find Just So Annoying, in a car trip with lifelong friends years ago.)
I loved it. And I learned that with audiobooks, I could focus on the story while doing mindless tasks. I don’t need to focus on swiffering the floor, I can listen to Tom Hanks, or Meryl Streep, read me a story. This was mindblowing. I now have a very long Want to Read tag in Libby. I have a long list of books I’ve borrowed (with some DNFs). I’ve largely stopped spending money on books (JD Robb books being the exception – Engie, we are soulmates there). I’m saving money, I’ve read more books in the past year than I thought possible, AND it’s had a positive influence on my relationship with my parents and others.
More on this in another post, but wow. What a difference it makes to start my day with an audiobook, not the headlines.
Music
I thought that listening to music was something I’d left behind when cars stopped having tape decks. Yes, I’m old. I often listen to sports radio on my way to work. It’s a short trip, it’s low (or no) stakes, plus I like sports! But a month or so ago (maybe 2?) my therapist suggested putting on classical music, or piano music (both of which I love) while I am starting my day. I scoffed (gosh, that’s a great word) but agreed to try it. Friends, it was another game changer. Some mornings, I put on George Winston and friends (thank you, Apple music). Some mornings, it’s the Highwomen, or The Chicks (if I’m feeling rebellious, ha). I sometimes put on music in the evenings, but often I just want silence. And that’s okay, too.
The point is, it’s Not The News (see “Disconnecting”, below). It’s beautiful, well, most of it. It ties me to my past. I was a Band Nerd. I played in orchestra for years. I loved music in college (who didn’t)? And then I…lost it? This reminds me of the beauty that is music, and the ways in which it can enrich our lives in ways that the NY Times headlines cannot.
Contemplation
I am working hard to make contemplation and reflection a regular part of my life, something I started right around Thanksgiving. No, I’m not yet doing yoga (sorry, Nicole). But I am making sure to have something reflection-related in my morning, before I log in to work at an unmentionable hour. I make it more special by starting my day, right now, with hot cocoa, made from scratch, and now using the Special Dark cocoa. It’s not European cocoa but any stretch, but it’s light years better (IMO) than my baking cocoa. I try to take at least 20 minutes, but some days it’s only 10 and that’s okay. This is also often paired with “background music”, which I love. It just makes the mornings better. I mean, of course. 🙂
Disconnecting
With the, um, changes (reversion?) happening in the US this month, I started trying very, very hard, to disconnect in 2024. This was a winter break-related change, to be honest. Late in the year, but shaping my current actions, too. Instead of reading every blinking article in the NY Times, I am skipping those that I just. don’t. want. to read. Or I DNF them – I do it with books, why not with articles, too? Instead, I listen to my sports podcast, or sports radio, or an audiobook. Or nothing. There’s something to be said for close-to-silence. There really is. It’s helping, I think. I’m also on Threads, and yes, it’s a Meta company, and yes, I know about the recent actions of their CEO. Sigh. That said, it’s light years better than the cesspool that is the other social network that I Shall Not Name. So for now, I will curate my feed to focus on political liberal-leaning folks, books, libraries, space images (seriously), and other joy-bringing content. For now, it works.
Thank you for reading this far, if you’ve made it this far. 2024 wasn’t all bad. I need to remember that. Thank you all for making it better than it could have been. <3
Poet Emily Dickinson on the power of this moment: “Forever is composed of nows.”
Trying to make my nows better than they were. Be gentle with yourself, friends.
I love, love, love all of this, Anne! We are always on the same “page” and I, too, would note my biggest self care / survival changes of the last 2ish years as being finding my way back to reading and listening to music; disconnecting and contemplation are what’s next for me, sigh – especially during times like these. Thanks for the inspiration, my friend! I love the idea your hot chocolate and music mornings and the joyful chill of this list!!
Lindsay, we should form a support group. I will need ongoing support to focus on disconnecting and contemplation, for sure. Books and music are easy! And yes, “times like these”, indeed. My hot chocolate is life most days – it is just so much more comforting to me than tea right now. And it’s SO much nicer than diving right in with coffee (doesn’t always sit well, sigh). Today was Decidedly Not Chill, so I am grateful to have your supportive comments. They feel like a text-based hug. <3
I’ve been disconnected from the news for a long time now…and by a long time I mean before the 2008 recession. Even if I wanted to Be Informed, I’m not sure how I would go about it.
2024 wasn’t that bad…but 2025 will be better!
I think my need to be dialed in to EVERYTHING stems from my stint out in DC, where if you didn’t know what was going on, well, you might lose your job and not know why. Fun! Also traffic reports. So news station = traffic reports but also… news. Sigh. I’m trying to be better – e.g., do I really need/want to know about this? No? Ignore! but it is a hard change to make after close to 20 years!
Yes, 2025 will be better. Darn it. 🙂
I’ve definitely moved on to audiobooks this year! It makes every dumb chore so much better, especially cooking. Let’s hear it for the audiobook, the unsung hero of 2024!
Audiobooks are reading, too! And yes to the dumb chores. Cooking, cleaning, changing the sheets, or folding laundry? Books are my go-to now, and thank goodness for them. 🙂
I love this reflection and your sentiment at the end about 2024 not being all that bad. On NYE I commented to my husband about how hard/bad 2024 was and he was surprised. He felt like it was an ok year. But I had kind of buried my feelings about RA and other challenges but unearthed them on my blog in December in particular, probably because I wasn’t traveling so had more time for reflection. But there was good in the year for me, too. It was an amazing year of reading and my trip to DC with P in October was amazing.
I’m so glad you are a fellow libby enthusiast! I will admit that part of the reason I got Paul a library card was so I could use his libby holds. Lol. I also use my husband’s. And I will be signing Will up for a card once he can write his own name (that’s my arbitrary rule as silly as it is). So I have 45 holds on libby. It’s a delight.
I’m listening to more classical music in 2025, too, as I’m going to spend the year listening to all of Beethoven’s works! There is a website that breaks all of his works down into 366 days. Most days it takes less than 5 minutes to listen and it really fills my cup.
It’s interesting, the differences in how people (even those who share a home!) think about the past year. Or, really, any shared experience. Perspective is everything! Clearly, individual challenges (your RA, which is a huge one) make a difference. You were one of the most significant influences on my switch to Libby, Lisa. Your love for the library, and I love how you are sharing that with Will (sigh, rip Taco?) and Paul. Oooh, 366 days of Beethoven? That’s a great idea! Can’t wait to hear what you think. <3
I love that you’ve re-connected with good things in your life that you used to love! And that you’ve found some new things too, like audiobooks. Everyone I know is into audiobooks! Personally I just can’t. I lose focus after 5 minutes if I try to listen to audiobooks, or even podcasts For some reason it works when it’s on YouTube! I keep documentaries on when I do things like design or photo editing.
Threads is definitely better than the other thing, but I left because of all the endless negativity, same-old-same-old marketing talk and trolling. I joined Bluesky instead and find it refreshing there, with lots of photographers and whiskey folks. But I agree the Threads feed is quite easy to change! For now.
I found a nice morning routine lately with reading and writing. I’ve fallen in love with Substack. If I ignore Notes (which looks too much like any other social network but without the ads), there’s SO MUCH good writing on there and I’ve found so many wonderful blogs (I know they prefer to call them newsletters but to me they’re blogs). And I try to work on my own writing too while I have my morning coffee.
Really good quote of Emily Dickinson. The only thing we have control over is our now!
That is so interesting, Susanne. Does it matter if there is substantive visual content, too? I’m thinking of your engagement with a video that just has, well, scenery or something, vs. one that has a story and/or someone talking? I love documentaries (or loved them, when I watched shows/movies), which is why I think I love nonfiction so much. Fiction for relaxation, nonfiction for mental engagement. 🙂
I followed you on Bluesky! Finding it hard to find non political content, though. Any suggestions?
Substack is great, but that + blogs is overwhelming for me. I follow a few select writers and find it hard enough to keep up with that. Or try to keep up!
Yes, I can see how Substack would be overwhelming. There’s quite a lot happening there. For me, after the decline of both social media and blogging (except the select few bloggers I follow) it was like a miracle to find a place where the actual point is long-form writing. I’m finding a lot of inspiring stuff there.
It’s interesting about YouTube. I do think the thing is that there’s more of visual elements rather than a full-on podcast. And I always prefer more natural discussion-type videos rather than the traditional podcast where it’s just a guy with a microphone. So I guess I just don’t like podcasts but that I’m ok with them on YouTube because they’re less podcast-y.
On Bluesky I’d recommend to stay away from the Discover feed and instead search for topics you’re interested in, follow interesting people and then stay on the Following feed. (And it will stay default if you choose it!) Then under “feeds” in the sidebar there’s a “discover new feeds” section and you can search for topic-based feeds, or choose one for example “science”, and then add any interesting feed to your sidebar. I only use the Following feed, some photography feeds, and “cat pics” for when I’m tired and frustrated. 🙂
But generally, Bluesky is quiet unless you know a lot of people there already. I have mainly people from the previous “Whiskey Twitter”, photography feeds, and that’s good enough for now. At least I find it much, much better than any of the other alternatives.
Substack can be harder because the posts – newsletters, really – are longer. Which means that I tend to get visually and just mentally overwhelmed. That said, there is an audio feature! So I do use that. My reading, though, has fallen off as I have had literally no time to go through all of the emails and blog posts and other media that keep flooding in. I need to just delete (or ignore) things and move on. Why is that so hard for me?
Of course you’re a visual person! You’re a photographer. I read, all day, every day. Seriously – other than being in meetings (sigh), reading and writing are my primary work activities. You loving YouTube and me loving podcasts and audiobooks makes perfect sense.
Thank you so much for the Bluesky tips. I will try them out!
So many years I thought audio books were not for me. Now I just LOVE THEM, for exactly the reasons you mention. I listen to them while I take my morning walk, and while I cook dinner. Sometimes at the grocery store. I used to listen to news podcasts to start my day. I was perhaps better informed, but stressed out. Now I listen to my book. Sometimes music. I haven’t listened to George Winston in a while, but I love him. My favorite album of his is December. I also really like a similar sounding album, Elements, by Ira Stein & Russel Walder. Another favorite is Beyond the Missouri Sky, by Pat Metheny and Charlie Hayden. I love a rainy weekend morning when I can come downstairs before anyone else is up, open the back door and just smell the rain and listen to quiet music while I have some tea and do my Wordle type games. I’m a happier person with my head in the sand. I almost wrote a blog post the other day that I was going to call ‘5 by 5’, and it was going to include 5 albums that I like to listen to alone on a rainy morning, and my 5 favorite Buffy the Vampire Slayer episodes, and maybe 5 DVDs I won’t get rid of, and 2 other things (not sure what yet). I trashed it, thinking, ‘No one cares about the music I listen to, it’s old. No one cares about Buffy, it hasn’t been on the air in decades.’
I am aware of what is going on in the world, I listen to some NPR every day, I read some NYT every day. But I cannot control so much of it, and I can’t listen to it ALL DAY or read it ALL DAY.
Yes to everything you said about audiobooks, Julie. Listening to them has been a transformative experience, to be honest. I do the same thing you do – I listen while I’m cleaning the bathroom, getting food together… what a fun way to learn things or escape from life for a bit.
Thank you for the music recs. I listened to December during, well, December. LOVE that album, but now it’s time to shift to Winter into Spring. Hope springs eternal, right? 🙂 I would love your quiet mornings, but swap the tea for cocoa and then I’m good. 😉
I loved Buffy! I would totally read that post. Or, you know, just send me your top 5 quiet raining morning albums, and reminisce with me about Buffy. (And of course we care! that’s why we read blogs, isn’t it? To learn about and care about other people who may not live next door, but with whom we make a connection?)
I need to find a newsletter that summarizes the big news, I think. I have cut back a lot on how much of the NYT I read – used to read every story and substory and now, no. Just the headlines, thanks. It’s definitely better.
Thank you for being here. Your comments often make my day. <3
Quiet reflection sounds a lot like yoga, Anne, whether you think you’re doing it or not! Yoga can take many forms.
I haven’t really followed the news since January 2022, when I realized just how bad it had gotten for my mental health. No thank you. I do a quick headline skim and I look into things that are specifically relevant to me, but mostly I step away from the ceaseless news cycle.
I love The Dutch House! Such a great book.
It sounds like you are really making some good and healthy changes in your life – I’m here for you all the way!
Oh, gosh, Nicole, I never thought of it that way. But you’re right – it’s a form of yoga. <3
As the semester starts and the panic and chaos set in, I am still clinging to my new habits and trying very, very hard to focus on the good. You (and Rex) help me do that.
Yes to all of this! Audiobooks make my life so much better, especially since I live alone and it’s nice to be able to just blast my audiobook while I’m cooking, doing chores, or just lumping on the couch playing Happy Color lol.
I am trying to only be connected to a few news sources, a political podcast twice a week and their nightly newsletter. I’ve unfollowed or muted a LOT of people who only seem to share political stuff on IG because I just don’t need that to be what I see when I go there right now. I want cute animal videos and bookish content and what my friends are up to!
“Audiobooks make my life so much better” <--YES. In total agreement here. And I also completely agree that, living alone, it's a wonderful way to do what makes me happy without bugging someone else. (I am not sure I could ever share my living space again - living alone is something I'm grateful for every day...) Oh, what is your nightly newsletter? I am looking for something like that if you can share, please. I like bookish content on Threads, and Susanne just helped me out with my Bluesky issues. I don't need politics everywhere - I need to have fun things, too. Things that make me happy. Which is not, um, politics. 🙂
So so many great, positive changes! Sometimes it takes a bit of time to form a new habit, but like James Clear says, adding it on to something you’re already doing or penciling it into your day makes such a huge difference. I love that you’re starting your day with classical music. (Jon and I are big fans of the classical station on the TV… one of the reason we still have cable (NO KIDDING).
I would fit right in with you and Jon! I am loving more contemporary piano right now but will, I’m sure, wander back to classical soon. I’ve just been trying to lighten it up in the morning and, as you know, sometimes crashing chords aren’t very light. 😉
Oh I love the positive vibes that ooze out of this post.
And how powerful a small change can be shifting you a few degrees and life is going on a different track. I sounds wonderful.
I am going to need to come back to these positive vibes in the next few months. It’s going to be an interesting and very busy semester, and if I can remember that I have all of these bright spots in my life, I think (hope) that will help. I’m sorry I have not been by your blog recently – my time seems more squished all the time – but I promise I’ll make it back soon. I need all the bright spots I can get!