It wasn’t until December of 2018 that I fell in love with reading and fully understood the importance of self-care! In this post, I share the three books that taught me to rest—not only as I recovered from my hospitalization, but as a daily habit to integrate into my lifestyle. Let’s jump in!
Self-Care and Burnout
Even though I’m a major homebody, I’m a type-A personality and always working on multiple projects at once.
In fact, I don’t really even enjoy watching movies because I feel like I’m not being productive with my time.
But since my ulcerative colitis diagnosis in 2014, I’ve had to slow down a bit due to my chronic fatigue.
Though most days I’m tired—sometimes crazy lethargic or mentally exhausted—I usually still try to force myself to keep being productive. But I’ve learned the hard way that this causes burnout.
It took me years to come to terms that I will never have the same levels of energy I used to have. I was so weak after my 2018 hospitalization that one of the only things I could do was read. And this taught me to embrace the rest and self-care to the point where I’m now excited to integrate self-care into my daily lifestyle.
Reading as Entertainment as I Recovered From My Hospitalization
In August 2018, I was hospitalized for five days due to an entirely impacted colon. Even though, when I was released, my symptoms were much more manageable, I still felt pretty sick, weak, and fatigued.
For the next four months, I stayed at my parents’ house as I recovered and regained my strength. (My husband had moved to another state to start a brand-new job!)
3 Inspiring Books That Taught Me to Rest
All my life, I’ve LOVED writing, but I never really enjoyed reading.
Part of this is because I’m a picky reader. But mostly it’s because I never allowed myself to sit down, relax, and just enjoy the calmness of reading, the thrill of entering another world.
It took a hospitalization to force me to slow down and just be. Here are three inspiring books I read as I recovered.
1. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel
I never found enjoyment in reading until I was recommended Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.
This book was insanely captivating! The way it shifted between timelines and characters’ points of view kept me constantly intrigued and my hands glued to the book. I read half the book in one sitting!
I think one of the reasons I love it so much is because its setting is post-apocalyptic, which is the same setting as the novel I’m currently writing! Definitely five stars from me.
2. The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
Another book I read as I recovered by the fireplace at my parents’ house was The Nature Fix by Florence Williams.
The Nature Fix helped me during my hospitalization when I was trapped inside four white walls all day for five days with just a little window I couldn’t even see out of from the angle of my bed.
3. The Slender Poe Anthology
The last book on my current reading list was The Slender Poe Anthology.
The main reason I checked it out from the library was to read The Raven. It plays an important inspirational role in my novel-in-progress 🙂
Self-Care Beverages
Of course, I’ve been doing all this reading with a mug in my hand, holding goodeither Maxwell House’s Instant Coffee that I’m obsessed with, or this Mango tea that my post-colonoscopy nurse gave me in the freezing recovery room.
The Power of Self-Care
It took four years since my diagnosis and a hospitalization to finally teach me the power of self-care, but I’m so grateful I learned this lesson.
Thanks to these three books, I now enjoy reading and relaxing, and both come much more easily to me now.
What are your favorite ways to self-care? Let me know in the comments below!
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