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The Books That Helped Me Understand My Mind (and Keep Showing Up Anyway)
- Shaun K.
- Jul 12
- 3 min read
By Shaun K.
These books didn’t save me.
But they gave me words for things I’d been feeling for years --- and that alone made me feel less crazy.
I. The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel van der Kolk
Trauma isn’t just in your past. It’s in your body, your voice, and even your attention span.
II. Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb
Therapy from both sides. Raw and unexpectedly comforting.
III. Rest Is Resistance by Tricia Hersey
A book that told me it was okay to stop pushing.
IV. Burnout by Emily & Amelia Nagoski
If you’ve ever said, “I’m so tired, but I can’t rest”, this one’s for you.
V. Your Brain Is Not Broken by Tamara Rosier
For neurodivergent thinkers trying to function in a world that demands conformity
VI. It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini
It’s fiction, but it didn’t feel like it.
The way this book captured depression, pressure, burnout --- and all through a teenage voice --- made it hit harder than some self-help book ever could. It reminded me that humor and heaviness don’t cancel each other out. And that you can feel broken and brilliant at the same.
VII. The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald
I didn’t expect to relate to anyone in this book whatsoever, being that I am a POC in America, which doesn’t happen to always be that great and also kind of isolating in certain ways --- I read this book on a random whim; and then came Nick.
The way he watches, the way he analyzes people without judging them out loud but never fully buys into the illusion either… I felt that
He’s not flashy. He’s not loud, He’s not the one everyone remembers first. But he sees. And sometimes that’s the loneliest role to play --- the one who sees it all clearly whole everyone else stays enchanted.
I’ve felt like that. Detached, but not heartless. Aware, but still trying to hope it all means something
These books didn’t hand me solutions -- they handed me mirrors.
Some reflected the parts of me I was afraid to admit were real. Others reminded me that I wasn’t the only one thinking like this, feeling like this, moving like through the world with too much awareness and not enough peace.
They gave me language for the weight I’d been carrying.
And even when I put the book down, that language stayed with me --- in my head, in my decisions, in how gently I started talking to myself.
If you’re still figuring out how your mind works… if you’re still trying to show up in a world that wasn’t built for how you think or feel; I hope at least one these finds you in the right moment.
Because sometimes the right sentence at the right time doesn’t just shift your mindset -- it reminds you that you’re still here. And still worth showing up for.
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