A Girl’s Guide to Freeing Your Mind

Like some others, I am susceptible to feeling mundane. It is as if all the beauty and wonder in life appear fuzzy and numb. To bounce back from this drowsy feeling, start by checking with your inner self. Have you been feeding it enough? What types of things are you ingesting in your body? The older I get (and the more distressing the world becomes), the harder it is to flush my system. We are beings who constantly consume, whether it is food, liquids, social media, or junk food galore. As my screen time goes up, I feel more panicked about the world around me. 

All of these feelings led me to think about my media diet. What type of fuel is my mind craving right now? How can I access different outlets that inspire me, not tire me? Increasing the value of your input steadily increases your output. Let’s get started. 

Books

Everything I Learned About Love by Dolly Alderton

Goodreads Description: When it comes to the trials and triumphs of becoming an adult, journalist and former Sunday Times columnist Dolly Alderton has seen and tried it all. In her memoir, she vividly recounts falling in love, finding a job, getting drunk, getting dumped, realizing that Ivan from the corner shop might just be the only reliable man in her life, and that absolutely no one can ever compare to her best girlfriends. Everything I Know About Love is about bad dates, good friends, and—above all else— realizing that you are enough.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein

Goodreads Description: Twenty-four-year-old British painter Cleo has escaped from England to New York and is still finding her place in the sleepless city when, a few months before her student visa ends, she meets Frank. Twenty years older and a self-made success, Frank’s life is full of all the excesses Cleo’s lacks. He offers her the chance to be happy, the freedom to paint, and the opportunity to apply for a Green Card. But their impulsive marriage irreversibly changes both their lives and the lives of those close to them, in ways they never could’ve predicted.

The Bell Jar

Goodreads Description: The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under — maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther’s breakdown with such intensity that Esther’s insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies.  

Music

My September ‘25 playlist has been filled with some new gems and cult classics. I’ll list some of my favorites below:

Lies in the Eyes of Love – Part Time

She Only Knows – all under heaven

Something Wrong – DJ Snake & Don Toliver

Time(is) – Solange

Haunt Me – Sade

I Can’t Help It – Michael Jackson

And there we have it, something for the eyes and ears. I think we can all use some scrolling replacements this season. 

With Love, 

Kierstyn 

kherr23@uic.edu

Her Campus at UIC, Social Media Team & Editorial Team

UIC Department of Communications

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