Don was in the city yesterday and I was home. After I finished writing my post, I had the thought that I should do something that makes me happy. I’ve been battling anxiety lately, as you know. If I did something that made me happy, I just might be able to dampen that anxiety down to a manageable level.
What makes me happy? Books and bookshops. So I got in the car and drove an hour in the rain to Oblong Books and Music, the shop in Rhinebeck that Don and I recently visited. The drive even made me happy. I listened to classical music, the rain was actually calming, and I found a good parking place. As soon as I entered, I felt like I had found a sort of refuge.
This time around, I noticed more details, one of which was this:
I must have walked past this the first time I was at the shop, but they have a display of the Very Short Introductions published by Oxford University Press. You might remember I first saw them at that wonderful independent bookshop in Las Vegas.
This is one of the differences between a chain and an independent bookstore. Chains, as a rule, would not stock these books. Independent Bookshops do.
Heavens, I like this shop.
In the Classics section, they had three different editions of To Kill a Mockingbird. Very impressive.
Of course, I purchased some books.
I had my eye on the latest volume of Alan Bennett’s memoir; I’d seen it on my first visit and hadn’t been able to forget it. I haven’t read the previous volumes, so it looks like I’ll be reading them in reverse order. I’m a huge fan.
I bought a book by Jane Gardam on my first visit – I’ve yet to read it – but this one was on sale for $5, so I snapped it up. I’ve heard nothing but good things about her novels.
I’ve been reading a lot about Melmoth lately on Instagram and wanted to buy it, but I also haven’t read Perry’s first book, The Essex Serpent, so that’s why they’re here.
And Gaudy Night was part of a wonderful display of Olive Editions by Harper Perennial – favorite books from their publishing past that are limited editions – $10 each. The display was right next to the Mystery section and all the books in the display were mysteries. They’re on the smallish side and the artwork/design is wonderful. I’m such a fan of mysteries, but for some reason, I’ve never read Gaudy Night.
My weaknesses are books, egg cups, McCoy and Roseville pottery, and miniatures. Books are a constant. The others ebb and flow.
Anyway. I’m glad I went. My anxiety level was reduced to nothing, I happily drove back home in the rain, stopped at the supermarket to pick up a few things, and I stayed calm the rest of the day. And I found some interesting books to read.
A side note: I’ve been reading Mo Hayder’s thrillers and I just got two from my local library, but I realized yesterday – right in the middle of reading one of them – that this wasn’t the best time to be reading them. They’re a bit too scary and bloody. So I’m returning them and I’ll read them sometime in the future.
Self-care is a good thing.
Happy Tuesday.
I like how self-care means different things to different people. Going to an independent bookstore would be high on my list, too. Another thing that really helps with my anxiety is listening to a guided meditation on my phone. Insight Timer is my favorite meditation app, and it’s free. You can pick different subjects or just plain music and you can also go by how much time you have or want.
Hope you have a good day today, too!
Thank you, Melanie! Also – for me – doing chores that I have to really focus on. That helps, too.
yay for you, claudia! glad you felt better. :) self-care is a very good thing … vital!
glad you have a great independent bookstore within a reasonable driving distance (hope you can stock up before winter)! only a couple such stores around here, very small but good to support. we also have a couple used book sellers that focus on a certain genre that i don’t read (like science fiction), b&n, half-price books and some very nice libraries.
agree … sounds like a good idea to skip “scary and bloody” reads for the time being (i have to skip them all the time)!
i have NINE books heading my way in the next week or so (because they couldn’t be ordered through a local shop), some for my sister and the rest for me. art books, most about two faves – ai weiwei and neo rauch (especially his sketches). i don’t think i’ve ever bought so many books in such a short period of time … and i don’t care! :)
my list of interests and self-care (i like those words better than “weaknesses”, even though i sure have plenty of weaknesses … :)) includes books, obviously. also vintage turquoise rings and old swedish dala horses found at flea markets. painting (mostly watercolor, some acrylic), knitting and cross-stitching, puttering around at home, hearing live music, being home or (better yet) out walking when it rains and especially spending time with my family.
just writing that list made me feel better! thanks for bringing it up. :)
happy tuesday!
kathy in iowa
I can tolerate a lot of gore since I read mysteries and thrillers a lot. But right now, it isn’t the best thing for me.
Thank you for your list, Kathy!
Walking into a book store always calms me down too. I love the smell and the quiet. I am glad you feel better.
Thank you, Kay!
Bookshops are my happy place, too. They do bring down the anxiety level and oh, the discoveries. I love Sayers. I haven’t read her in years and probably should again. The editions remind me a little of the Classic British Mysteries series from the British library which I have started to collect. They have the best graphics on the covers too. I’m so glad you found your happy place on a day when it was most needed. I have more Maigret mysteries coming in the mail from Amazon and can’t remember what all else.
My indulgences… books, of course. Art supplies. Dishes and kitchen bits. (I love a new spatula!) Vintage quilts.
I have a few of the Classic British Mysteries on my shelves. Love the graphics.
Thank you, Jeanie.
Claudia, im glad you are feeling more buoyant. Don’t let them get you down!
I’m finally reading blogs again, after returning from my U.K. Vacation last week. Your post today brings back a good memory of our tour of the Oxford University Press’ small museum. After the private tour, Penny, our “supervisor” (the museum is tiny and free, but visitors are always accompanied by a staff member) knew we loved books and libraries, so she took us into the University Press’ library that is used by the staff. Every Oxford Dictionary was in there, as well as every volume of the “very short introduction to” books. We had a wonderful two-hour visit.
What a lovely tour! (By the way, I have my own two volume Oxford English Dictionary.) The print is so small you have to use a magnifying glass!
I hope you had a wonderful time, Wendy!
Hi Claudia, sounds like the perfect remedy. I find myself in the same predicament, and I am beginning to recognize the anxiety within. i could never put a name on the feeling in the past, because for me it always seemed like a big ball of tangled yarn – feeling kind of off and unsettled but not understanding why. I like to create pockets of times just like you did, they are usually simple remedies of a short trip somewhere with classical music or just lovely meditative silence in the car. Like many of your readers, I feel that we are kindred spirits. xoxo
Ann Marie
We are most definitely kindred spirits! Thank you, Ann Marie.
We all need self-care once in awhile. Especially with all that is going on around us. Self-care helps us to put the junk in the background. To have a free heart if even for only a little bit.
My self-care indulgences include books. Especially cat books that are picture books, story, fiction, non-fiction. Remember the poem Deserata? My favorite cat book is this poem with cat photos to go with each phrase. My other collections are small almost tiny pictures of landscapes. I collect a mishmash of tiny things that are small enough to fit into a printers box. And, then there is yarn. Oh my!
These little things that bring us such great joy and peace and calm are like the first sign of springtime after the long cold winter.
Indeed! Love that you have Desiderata in the form of a cat book! Lovely. Thanks, Trudy.
Self care is extremely important for all of us. I try and spend more time on things I enjoy these days, Looks like a wonderful book store. xo Laura
Yes, we all have to make sure we allow time for ourselves and the things that make us happy. Thanks Laura.
Claudia,
As someone who battles anxiety and panic, my thoughts are definitely with you. As Melanie mentioned above, meditation is supposed to be so helpful so I have recently started that. Insight Timer is good as is Calm, but that is pretty pricey. I actually like meditation where there isn’t a lot of talking and I have found some good ones on Insight Timer. Practicing deep breathing is also helpful. I also started taking a yoga class for a cancer patients and survivors and I find it helpful. Take good care.
I have a hard time meditating, but I do mediate – just not often enough. Thanks, Susan.
I can’t meditate; have tried so many times. But in one particular, floundering episode in my life (I’d had a cascading pile of difficulties and was also dealing with grief), when I desperately needed whatever help I could get, I gratefully found a guided imagery tape which also included progressive muscle relaxation (head to toe, VERY valuable because anxiety pairs with tension; that’s why, too, full-body massage is also helpful); the person’s voice on the tape was calm and soothing and reassuring. I did it at bedtime and it helped me sleep. I always felt the person talking knew exactly what I was going thru and what I needed; like, yeah, this is a terrible time, just raw and heart-crushing, but there’s hope and you’ll survive and you’ll get better. Wore out that cassette tape but it was like a lifeline for awhile. Was a good 20 years ago (before apps).
xoxo
Hi,Claudia! Your post is spot on. Walking into a bookstore has been my happy place since my teen-age years when I spent my baby-sitting money on my very own books. Stay calm and read on! xo
I will, Annette. Thank you!
Self-care comes in many forms, doesn’t it? Bookstores, gardening, antique malls, a drive in the country….they are all remedies as well as simple pleasures. I think being retired has helped me appreciate those smaller pleasures, that I often didn’t have time because of my kids, working, or caring for my parents. Too much to do, and too little time means self-care is not a priority, as it should be.
Looks like you have some good reading there. Enjoy! ;)
I miss gardening, that has always helped me. And raking doesn’t count!
Everyday you should do something that makes you happy! I’m familiar with all of your book choices but Gaudy Night is a blast from the past! I remember reading the Oxford adventures of Lord Peter Wimsey and Harriet Vane in my teens. I had exhausted Agatha Christie (but I still love her today) and wanted to read more books from the same era. Enjoy!
Happy Tuesday
I’m not sure why I never got to it, but I’m glad I have it on hand now. Thanks, Dee Dee!
Self-care is ABSOLUTELY a good thing; smart girl you are, and I’m SO GLAD you had a good day.
Because of you, dearest Claudia, I got mesmerized by your former post about the Oxford Press ‘Very Short Introductions’ and I don’t have any other local source for them that I know of; so, despite my aim to buy conservatively, I very quickly built up my Amazon cart because I could have bought 100 of those books and I think there are that many and more (lots of intriguing topics; better than Wiki, that’s for sure). I kept whittling, remembering my budget, and because I’m just ‘into’ this lately and feeling a great need to return to Sunday church life, I bought these of the ‘Very Short'(s): Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism, Old Testament, New Testament (a good start!).
I also would like to eventually get the ones on weather & climate; the constellations and planets; water, lakes, oceans. Cultural anthropology. (That’s all I can remember right now; oh, and U.S. immigration [I think it covers when my ancestors came over from Europe in the previous centuries; the whole history of populating America]; The Great Depression [our parents ‘lived’ it].) So much of which to still learn. Some need at this mature age in a quest for greater knowledge (or at least an introduction!).
As I said in a prev post when we were ‘speaking’ of them, these little books are so eye-catching because they have such attractive, colorful covers. They don’t take up much space because of being softcover and are indeed quite diminutive in size; could easily pop one in the glove compartment or a handbag or backpack (beach, a walk, a picnic). Haven’t read them yet, but looking forward to it. They’re quite inexpensive.
You are SO LUCKY to have independent bookstores even an hour away. I need to look harder for some in the neighboring counties near me.
My mom used to quote an expression of something her grandma would say, that when a lady was feeling blue, she’d go buy a hat. Well, we buy books!
We sure do buy books! I can’t help it! Thanks, Vicki!
Glad your anxiety is better. Books and book shops will do it . Looks like you purchased a lot of good reads. Enjoy the books. The mysteries I enjoy are the tame and mild ones. I just finished “The Way The Christmas Cookie Crumbles” by Leslie Budewitz. It was quite good. I never expected the identity of the murderer. Hope Don was successful with the audition.
Marilyn
Oh, you can do a great job on an audition and still not get the job. On television, it’s all about the look they want. Thanks, Marilyn.
I am so sorry you are struggling with anxiety. I struggle myself and used to hide these feelings because I was ashamed but now I can talk about it and find that so many others do as well which always helps.
I force myself to get up every morning rather than give in and I then always go looking for something that cheers me up. Today it was a little robin peering in the kitchen window as if he was waiting for me, a poem on the radio(Out in the Fields with God by Elizabeth B Browning) my cheerful dog Stan who is on my side, and your blog ,which is always there,thank you for that. Living one minute from the sea is almost medicine and I do appreciate it.
Books, Art Deco china, orchids (only 25 now )and Colouring books are my addictions and they also help. Not forgetting my husband who makes me laugh and plays guitar and I am almost normal again. But tomorrow will hold the same morning struggle. Take care. Megan
I wish I lived near the ocean. Nothing helps me like walking on the beach. It’s the best.
Thinking of you, Megan. xo
Catching up on your blog after spending a few days out of town. I’m so glad you planned something nice for yourself, Claudia. Reading about the tax situation just turns my stomach. It’s just wrong. Without artists and actors and those who create, the world would be a very bleak place indeed.
It sure would. But Republicans apparently don’t agree.
Sigh.
Thanks, Karen.
Hi Claudia,
Hope you;re still feeling better. I wanted to share something that helps me when I’m under a lot of stress: Bach Rescue Remedy.
I hope that ,if you try it, it helps you.
Yes, I forgot about that! We used to use in when Scout was terrified by thunderstorms and fireworks! Thanks, Cara.
Rhinebeck is such a cute town, loved visiting there when my daughter was a student at CIA. But a bookstore anywhere is good! Or the ocean. Hope you’re still feeling relaxed.
Rhinebeck is unbelievably charming but I think it’s at its best in Autumn. Thanks, Lynda.
Dear Claudia,
My daughter also has anxiety and depression. Reading helps her (takes her away) and also cleaning and concentrating on tasks. I will think of you when I think of her and send calming vibes. Bookstores and libraries are two of my favorite places in the world.
xoxo
I do the same things to help with anxiety, along with taking a walk, a drive, or doing something special that makes me happy. Thank you so much for your kind words, Maureen.