For anxiety/a buzzing brain, the following keep popping up for me, and making me happy each time (and sort of appeared, as initial ideas then habits, unintentionally. Thanks, brain/memory-riddled-beyond-control-with-pervasive-pop-culture!):
1. You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon
When I’m internally badgering myself with questions, some excitable/escalating lyrics from the song (“Where’s my wife and family? What if I die here?”) automatically pop into my head, and then I laugh. What, indeed, if I die here, Paul? That’s a possibility, and a worse alternative to whatever was bugging me, but mainly the song reminds me that both me and the narrator are being self-involved twits (if very human ones) and should calm the hell down.
2. Counting
When you count down from 10 in your head (or creepily mouth the numbers), you can control how long each interval is while you’re waiting for something — anything — to happen (a bus’ arrival, someone to shut the hell up, etc), which makes the experience easier, because waiting for stuff has become unbearable sometimes. You can count really slowly or even — if you have the guts/need to — start over. It’s fantastic. I can count reeeeal slow.
3. The Rock Yelling “It Doesn’t Matter”
The most recent arsenal addition. A friend showed me this song/inflicted it upon me recently and, when I was fretting about something or other a few weeks ago, I suddenly heart Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson yelling at me, bless him. It’s so good.
Warmly, Janet Burns 