I came to this podcast after listening to the bedtime version for several months, which continues to be what I fall asleep to every single night, usually just a few minutes in, so I miss most of the story!
I listen to this podcast on repeat as the background to my life. I have ADHD and I home educate a very busy AuDHD son, as well as just trying to mum my way through life with three kids and a business to run. There is always so much noise going on in my home, so many distractions, but I cant just drown it out with headphones as I need to be able to interact with my family.
The village of Nothing Much is my safe space. It is my calm within the chaos. It soothes me in ways I never knew I needed soothing. It uplifts me in ways that instantly lower my anxiety levels and helps me banish negative thoughts before they get a chance to consume me. I’m in a pretty serious burn out right now, and this show is my lifeline - seriously.
It works for me because I don’t have to actively listen to it, and I don’t have to keep rewinding for bits I’ve missed. No matter what point I tune in at, the story makes sense, and it feels like the narrators are just getting on with their day as I get on with my own. Kind of like body doubling really. In fact, what makes this particularly lovely for me is that every time I listen to an episode, I listen to it differently, hear new parts of the story I wasn’t tuned into before and discover new snippets of info each time.
Part of having ADHD for me has always been about needing novelty. I cant rewatch a movie that I’ve seen in the last year (unless it’s a hyperfocus/special interest movie, but they are rare birds for me). The same goes for books, and usually podcasts. But this podcast is different for me. I listen episodes back to back for several hours a day whilst I am working or doing family admin, or just doom scrolling, internet shopping or whatever. I find silence deafening, but I can’t focus on any tasks requiring brainpower if I have something to listen to that requires me to actually LISTEN to it fully.
I feel like I know every episode almost off by heart… but never fully, and that’s perfect for me. But also, I’ve come to understand that my neurodivergent brain actually likes the comfort of knowing what’s coming next, I actually do really well with routines (when I can sustain them!), and so this podcast is helping me to challenge my previous conceptions of how my brain works.
But most of all, I just love the writing. I too love knowing the names for groups of things, I love discovering new words and trying them on in my mouth for the first time. It’s helped me embrace some of my ‘guilty’ pleasures - I got a rock tumbler for christmas, and my love of all things journaling and planning has taken on a life of it’s own.
Anyway, I love this podcast so much and it is such an important part of my day to day life, so thank you Kathryn (and thank you Bob!), from the bottom of my heart.
