The Joy of Missing Out (Encore)

Speaker 1 Get more Nothing Much Happens with bonus episodes, extra long stories, and ad-free listening, all while supporting the show you love. Subscribe now.

Speaker 1 Have you ever wished you could visit the Village of Nothing Much? Well, this is your invitation. Join me, Catherine Nikolai, for a live virtual event on Wednesday, November 19th at 6 p.m.

Speaker 1 Pacific, 9 p.m. Eastern.
It will be a cozy night of storytelling, music, and calm.

Speaker 1 I'll share three handpicked bedtime stories, including one you've never heard on the podcast, brought to life with healing music from Ayah Ayal and sound designed by Bob.

Speaker 1 We'll pause between stories for guided journaling and creative moments to help you slow down, reconnect, and rest.

Speaker 1 And you'll receive exclusive extras created just for this event, including a brand new illustration from the village, thoughtful journaling prompts, and a few playful surprises to enjoy at home.

Speaker 1 If you join the Dreamer's Inner Circle, you can stay for a cozy after-party where I'll answer your questions, share character updates, and reveal some behind-the-scenes stories that never made it into the podcast.

Speaker 1 You can tune in from anywhere, but it's one night only, so don't miss it. Go to pave.live to get your ticket.
That's p-a-ve-e.l-i-ve-e.

Speaker 1 You know how lots of sleep aides feel like they're doing something to you.

Speaker 1 You get knocked out and then you wake up groggy, maybe a little fogged and somehow still tired. That's the problem with so many over-the-counter sleep products.

Speaker 1 They override your system instead of working with it. The new dream gummies from Cured Nutrition take a different approach.
They blend cannabinoids and botanicals.

Speaker 1 CBD, CBN, and a micro dose of THC with valerian, passion flower, and chamomile to teach your body how to rest again. It's not sedation, it's restoration.
Dream completes Cured's 24-hour rhythm.

Speaker 1 Flow for focus, serenity for calm, and dream for true recovery. It's clean, plant-based, third-party tested, and made to help your sleep actually work.
without melatonin and without the next day haze.

Speaker 1 I tried one last night. I slept great, slept longer than I usually managed to, and felt really, really good when I woke up.
You can try DreamNow at curednutrition.com slash nothing much

Speaker 1 and use code nothing much for 20% off your order. That's c-u-r-ed

Speaker 1 nutrition.com slash nothing much.

Speaker 1 Coupon code nothing much.

Speaker 1 Because you already know the value of rest, dream just helps you find the deep part again.

Speaker 1 Welcome to bedtime stories for everyone,

Speaker 1 in which

Speaker 1 nothing much happens.

Speaker 1 You feel good,

Speaker 1 and then

Speaker 1 you fall asleep.

Speaker 1 I'm Catherine Nikolai.

Speaker 1 I write and read all the stories you hear. on Nothing Much Happens.

Speaker 1 Audio Engineering is by Bob Wittersheim.

Speaker 1 We are bringing you an encore episode tonight, meaning that this story originally aired at some point in the past. It could have been recorded with different equipment in a different location.

Speaker 1 And since I'm a person and not a computer, I sometimes sound just slightly different.

Speaker 1 But the stories are always soothing and family friendly, and our wishes for you are always deep rest and sweet dreams.

Speaker 1 Now,

Speaker 1 the concept here is simple, but tried and true.

Speaker 1 I'm going to read you a bedtime story.

Speaker 1 And just by listening to it,

Speaker 1 By following along with the sound of my voice,

Speaker 1 we'll steer you into a deep, restorative sleep.

Speaker 1 This is a sort of grown-up sleep training and you'll notice that the more you do it, the faster you fall asleep or return to sleep in the night.

Speaker 1 I'll tell the story twice and I'll go a little slower the second time through.

Speaker 1 Now

Speaker 1 it's time.

Speaker 1 Lights out.

Speaker 1 Set aside anything you've been playing with or working on.

Speaker 1 And take a moment to prioritize your own comfort

Speaker 1 and feel how good it is to be in bed right now.

Speaker 1 Maybe this is a moment you've been looking forward to since you got up this morning.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 now it's here.

Speaker 1 You are safe.

Speaker 1 You are done for the day.

Speaker 1 And I'll be here keeping watch as you sleep.

Speaker 1 Take a slow, deep breath in through your nose

Speaker 1 and sigh through your mouth.

Speaker 1 One more time. Fill it up.

Speaker 1 And let it go.

Speaker 1 Good.

Speaker 1 Our story tonight is called The Joy of Missing Out.

Speaker 1 And it's a story about recharging your body when your battery has run down.

Speaker 1 It's also about frost on the windows, reading a favorite book, snuggled deep under the covers,

Speaker 1 being honest about what you need,

Speaker 1 and giving others permission to do the same.

Speaker 1 The joy of missing out.

Speaker 1 We were a week or so away from Thanksgiving

Speaker 1 and it felt like Halloween was yesterday and that Christmas would be tomorrow.

Speaker 1 As much as I loved this time of year,

Speaker 1 sometimes it seemed like a mad gallop,

Speaker 1 rushing from October to the new year.

Speaker 1 And I wanted to slow it down and savor it before it was gone.

Speaker 1 So, instead of picking apples for next week's pies at the orchard,

Speaker 1 or heading to downtown to stroll the streets and watch the shopkeepers put together their holiday window displays

Speaker 1 or meeting friends coming into town for dinner

Speaker 1 or a hundred other things

Speaker 1 that I am thoroughly fond of

Speaker 1 I am instead relaxing

Speaker 1 into the joy of missing out

Speaker 1 I realized this morning as I sipped my coffee in bed,

Speaker 1 that my battery had run out.

Speaker 1 I just didn't have the energy

Speaker 1 to do today.

Speaker 1 And at first I resisted it,

Speaker 1 feeling like

Speaker 1 I should push myself up and into my clothes and out of the door,

Speaker 1 and that if I did,

Speaker 1 maybe I would find the energy.

Speaker 1 But I realized even if I did,

Speaker 1 I wasn't likely to find the joy.

Speaker 1 I could put one foot in front of the other,

Speaker 1 but couldn't put an honest smile on my face.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 I needed a deep factory reset.

Speaker 1 And in the moment I surrendered to that,

Speaker 1 I felt myself relaxing.

Speaker 1 I hadn't even realized

Speaker 1 that I'd been wearing my shoulders like earrings, tensing against the day.

Speaker 1 As I let my shoulders and my guard down,

Speaker 1 I breathed deeper.

Speaker 1 I felt a warm

Speaker 1 thank you for listening from my body spreading through my limbs.

Speaker 1 I would make no plans today

Speaker 1 and I would cancel the ones I did have.

Speaker 1 I drank till my cup was empty.

Speaker 1 pushed it onto my bedside table,

Speaker 1 and slid back down into my sheets.

Speaker 1 They were still warm and puffed up from a night of sleeping,

Speaker 1 and I burrowed in till just my head was out.

Speaker 1 There was frost on the window this morning,

Speaker 1 and I spent some time just looking at it,

Speaker 1 watching how the light of the rising sun struck and bounced off of it.

Speaker 1 I could feel that

Speaker 1 given its struthers,

Speaker 1 my body would not have awoken this early,

Speaker 1 and that there might be a way back

Speaker 1 into sleep.

Speaker 1 I took my book from the table and curled up around it,

Speaker 1 keeping as much of me as possible in my cocoon of blankets as I opened it

Speaker 1 and began to read.

Speaker 1 A memory from childhood ran through my mind

Speaker 1 of the first time I read a whole chapter on my own.

Speaker 1 It had been a morning like this one.

Speaker 1 Frost on the windows

Speaker 1 and me tucked up in bed

Speaker 1 with a thin chapter book.

Speaker 1 I remember fumbling my way through the words I didn't recognize,

Speaker 1 sounding them out slowly but determinedly

Speaker 1 until I turned a page and found a big two

Speaker 1 marking the start of the next chapter.

Speaker 1 I had felt so proud.

Speaker 1 It felt like I had reached a turning point.

Speaker 1 I could read now,

Speaker 1 all by myself,

Speaker 1 and whenever I wanted.

Speaker 1 I thought of little me

Speaker 1 smiling at her book all those years ago

Speaker 1 and felt so tender toward her

Speaker 1 and grateful

Speaker 1 as I was still turning pages and enjoying stories

Speaker 1 all these years later.

Speaker 1 My current read was one I read every autumn.

Speaker 1 It didn't matter matter if I was right in the middle of another book,

Speaker 1 if I had a tall stack waiting for me beside the bed.

Speaker 1 If the pages were starting to be dog-eared

Speaker 1 and the spine cracked,

Speaker 1 once it felt crisp and the leaves turned,

Speaker 1 I plucked this one from the shelf and treated myself to a long dip into its world,

Speaker 1 which was full of mystery and magic and near misses

Speaker 1 and impossible love.

Speaker 1 As my eyes moved over the lines on the page,

Speaker 1 I felt my eyelids drooping.

Speaker 1 I kept

Speaker 1 starting over,

Speaker 1 rereading a line,

Speaker 1 opening my eyes again until

Speaker 1 I finally let the book fall onto the comforter beside me and drifted.

Speaker 1 I dreamt in a swirl of snow and colors,

Speaker 1 nothing concrete enough to form into a storyline.

Speaker 1 But with the atmosphere of Christmas,

Speaker 1 a sea of trees lit up on a mountainside,

Speaker 1 an excitement and sleigh bells.

Speaker 1 When I woke again, I felt

Speaker 1 replete.

Speaker 1 I stretched my limbs in bed

Speaker 1 and took deep breaths

Speaker 1 at the window, tying my robe around me.

Speaker 1 I watched cars coming and going.

Speaker 1 A neighbor, wrapped in a huge parka,

Speaker 1 with a scarf slipping down his back,

Speaker 1 was unpacking boxes of twinkle lights and a whole herd of reindeer onto his front lawn.

Speaker 1 I smiled as I scooped up my cold cup from beside the bed

Speaker 1 and felt how lovely it was to be missing out on all of that today.

Speaker 1 In the kitchen, I started a fresh pot of coffee

Speaker 1 and sprinkled a good bit of cinnamon in with the grounds.

Speaker 1 As it brewed, the house filled with the lovely, roasty, sweet scent.

Speaker 1 And I sent a couple of messages to cancel the plans I'd had for that evening.

Speaker 1 I did it without the least bit of regret or guilt.

Speaker 1 Just knowing

Speaker 1 I was doing what I needed to do

Speaker 1 to take care of myself.

Speaker 1 The responses came back with little hearts and thumbs up.

Speaker 1 No one was mad.

Speaker 1 No one was expecting more of me than I could give.

Speaker 1 In fact, one friend gratefully said

Speaker 1 she'd decided to stay home too.

Speaker 1 That I'd given her the nudge she needed

Speaker 1 to slow down.

Speaker 1 That's the thing about just being honest about what you need.

Speaker 1 When you do,

Speaker 1 you give others permission to do the same.

Speaker 1 And we all get a little closer to having those needs met.

Speaker 1 I thought of things I might like to do while missing out.

Speaker 1 Watch old movies.

Speaker 1 Take a long, hot bath.

Speaker 1 Fill up the bird feeders.

Speaker 1 Do the crossword puzzle.

Speaker 1 Maybe cook something or maybe just order something tasty

Speaker 1 that could be delivered right to my door.

Speaker 1 That sounded like plenty for a full day of doing nothing much.

Speaker 1 Yes, before I knew it,

Speaker 1 I'd be putting up the tree,

Speaker 1 rushing to a holiday concert,

Speaker 1 making a New Year's resolution.

Speaker 1 Well,

Speaker 1 here was an early resolution I thought I might be able to stick to.

Speaker 1 Every now and then, when I felt the need,

Speaker 1 I would politely absent myself from the busy world

Speaker 1 and remember

Speaker 1 how to rest.

Speaker 1 The joy of missing out.

Speaker 1 We were a week or so away from Thanksgiving.

Speaker 1 And it felt like Halloween was yesterday,

Speaker 1 and that Christmas would be tomorrow.

Speaker 1 As much as I loved this time of year,

Speaker 1 sometimes it seemed like a mad gallop,

Speaker 1 rushing from October to the New Year.

Speaker 1 And I wanted to slow it down and savor it before it was gone.

Speaker 1 So instead of picking apples for next week's pies at the orchard,

Speaker 1 or heading to downtown

Speaker 1 to stroll the streets

Speaker 1 and watch the shopkeepers put together their holiday window displays

Speaker 1 or meet friends

Speaker 1 coming into town for dinner

Speaker 1 or a hundred other things

Speaker 1 that I am thoroughly fond of

Speaker 1 I am instead

Speaker 1 relaxing into the joy of missing out

Speaker 1 I realized this morning as I sipped my coffee in bed,

Speaker 1 that my battery had run out.

Speaker 1 I just didn't have the energy to do today.

Speaker 1 And at first, I resisted it,

Speaker 1 feeling like I should push myself up

Speaker 1 and into my clothes

Speaker 1 and out of the door,

Speaker 1 and that

Speaker 1 if I did,

Speaker 1 maybe

Speaker 1 I would find the energy.

Speaker 1 But I realized, even if I did,

Speaker 1 I wasn't likely to find the joy.

Speaker 1 I could put one foot in front of the other,

Speaker 1 but couldn't put an honest smile on my face.

Speaker 1 No,

Speaker 1 I needed a deep factory reset.

Speaker 1 And in the moment I surrendered to that,

Speaker 1 I felt myself

Speaker 1 relaxing.

Speaker 1 I hadn't even realized that I'd been wearing my shoulders like earrings,

Speaker 1 tensing against the day.

Speaker 1 As I let my shoulders

Speaker 1 and my guard down,

Speaker 1 I breathed deeper

Speaker 1 and felt a warm

Speaker 1 Thank you for listening from my body

Speaker 1 spreading through my limbs.

Speaker 1 I would make no plans today

Speaker 1 and I would cancel the ones I did have.

Speaker 1 I drank till my cup was empty,

Speaker 1 pushed it onto my bedside table,

Speaker 1 and slid back down

Speaker 1 into my sheets.

Speaker 1 They were still warm

Speaker 1 and puffed up from a night of sleeping

Speaker 1 and I burrowed in till

Speaker 1 just my head was out.

Speaker 1 There was frost on the window this morning

Speaker 1 and I spent some time just looking at it,

Speaker 1 watching how the light of the rising sun struck and bounced off of it.

Speaker 1 I could feel that,

Speaker 1 given its druthers,

Speaker 1 my body would not have awoken this early,

Speaker 1 and that there might be a way

Speaker 1 back into sleep.

Speaker 1 I took my book from the table

Speaker 1 and curled up around it,

Speaker 1 keeping as much of me as possible in my cocoon of blankets

Speaker 1 as I opened it

Speaker 1 and began to read.

Speaker 1 A memory from childhood ran through my mind

Speaker 1 of the first time I read a whole chapter on my own.

Speaker 1 It had been a morning like this one,

Speaker 1 frost on the windows,

Speaker 1 and me

Speaker 1 tucked up in bed

Speaker 1 with a thin chapter book.

Speaker 1 I remember fumbling my way through the words I didn't recognize,

Speaker 1 sounding them out slowly,

Speaker 1 but determinedly

Speaker 1 until I turned a page and found

Speaker 1 a big two

Speaker 1 marking the start

Speaker 1 of the next chapter.

Speaker 1 I had felt so proud.

Speaker 1 It felt like I had reached a turning point.

Speaker 1 I could read now

Speaker 1 all by myself

Speaker 1 and whenever I wanted.

Speaker 1 I thought of

Speaker 1 Little me

Speaker 1 smiling at her book

Speaker 1 all those years ago

Speaker 1 and felt so tender toward her

Speaker 1 and grateful

Speaker 1 as I was still turning pages

Speaker 1 and enjoying stories all these years later.

Speaker 1 My current read was one I read

Speaker 1 every autumn.

Speaker 1 It It didn't matter if I was right in the middle of another book.

Speaker 1 If I had a tall stack waiting for me beside the bed.

Speaker 1 If the pages were starting to be dog-eared

Speaker 1 and the spine cracked.

Speaker 1 Once it felt crisp and the leaves turned,

Speaker 1 I plucked this one from the shelf and treated myself

Speaker 1 to a long dip

Speaker 1 into its world,

Speaker 1 which was full of mystery and magic

Speaker 1 and near misses

Speaker 1 and impossible love.

Speaker 1 As my eyes moved over the lines on the page,

Speaker 1 I felt my eyelids drooping.

Speaker 1 I kept

Speaker 1 starting over,

Speaker 1 rereading a line,

Speaker 1 opening my eyes again,

Speaker 1 until I finally let the book

Speaker 1 fall onto the comforter beside me

Speaker 1 and drifted.

Speaker 1 I dreamt in a swirl of snow and colors,

Speaker 1 nothing concrete enough

Speaker 1 to form into a storyline,

Speaker 1 but with the atmosphere of Christmas,

Speaker 1 a sea of trees lit up on a mountainside,

Speaker 1 and excitement

Speaker 1 and sleigh bells.

Speaker 1 When I woke again,

Speaker 1 I felt replete.

Speaker 1 I stretched my limbs in bed

Speaker 1 and took deep breaths

Speaker 1 at the window, tying my robe around me,

Speaker 1 I watched cars coming and going.

Speaker 1 A neighbor wrapped in a huge parka

Speaker 1 with a scarf slipping down his back

Speaker 1 was unpacking boxes of twinkle lights

Speaker 1 and a whole herd of reindeer onto his front lawn.

Speaker 1 I smiled as I scooped up my cold cup from beside the bed

Speaker 1 and felt how lovely it was

Speaker 1 to be missing out

Speaker 1 on all of that to day.

Speaker 1 In the kitchen, I started a fresh pot of coffee

Speaker 1 and sprinkled a good bit of cinnamon in with the grounds.

Speaker 1 As it brewed,

Speaker 1 the house filled with a lovely,

Speaker 1 roasty, sweet scent.

Speaker 1 And I sent a couple messages to cancel the plans I'd had for that evening.

Speaker 1 I did it without the least bit of regret or guilt,

Speaker 1 just knowing I was

Speaker 1 doing what I needed to do

Speaker 1 to take care of myself.

Speaker 1 The responses came back in with little hearts and thumbs up.

Speaker 1 No one was mad.

Speaker 1 No one was expecting more of me

Speaker 1 than I could give.

Speaker 1 In fact, one friend gratefully said

Speaker 1 she'd decided to stay home too,

Speaker 1 that I'd given her the nudge she needed

Speaker 1 to slow down.

Speaker 1 That's the thing about

Speaker 1 just

Speaker 1 being honest

Speaker 1 about what you need.

Speaker 1 When you do,

Speaker 1 you give others permission to do the same.

Speaker 1 And we all get a little closer

Speaker 1 to having those needs met.

Speaker 1 I thought of things I might like to do while missing out.

Speaker 1 Watch old movies.

Speaker 1 Take a long hot bath.

Speaker 1 Fill up the bird feeders.

Speaker 1 Do the crossword puzzle.

Speaker 1 Maybe

Speaker 1 cook something.

Speaker 1 Or

Speaker 1 maybe just order something that could be delivered right to my front door.

Speaker 1 That sounded like plenty

Speaker 1 for a full day of doing

Speaker 1 nothing much.

Speaker 1 Yes, before I knew it, I'd be putting up the tree,

Speaker 1 rushing to a holiday concert,

Speaker 1 making a New Year's resolution.

Speaker 1 Well

Speaker 1 here was an early resolution

Speaker 1 I thought I might be able to stick to.

Speaker 1 Every now and then,

Speaker 1 when I felt the need,

Speaker 1 I would politely absent myself from the busy world

Speaker 1 and remember how to rest.

Speaker 1 Sweet dreams.