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Beany Brain #76: The Comfort Blanket of Rewatching
Abigail Munday
January 13, 2026
Beany Brain: loving our jumping-bean brains!
Welcome to this issue of the Beany Brain! I hope today’s newsletter will bounce us up as we contemplate the upsides and challenges of being neurodivergent, a little beauty, some creativity, and just general yeehawesomeness.
Table of Contents
Photo by Abigail Munday
The Comfort Blanket of Rewatching
(I’m focusing here on rewatching, but rereading also works for me in the same way.)
Anyone else need a full nervous system reset? I mean, really. The things going on out there. Crazy. Bonkers. Evil. My heart is broken. Injustice off the charts.
And you know we NDs have a strong sense of justice and injustice. But I think, empirically, the stuff hitting the fan reeks to high heaven. It’s not just NDs saying so.
I’m doing what I can do.
Other than that…
Trying to breathe.
And…rewatching.
I’ve talked about it before.
But maybe rewatching needs some retelling.
So here goes.
Key points:
Anticipation of familiar scenes triggers dopamine, making rewatching more rewarding.
Rewatching holiday movies fosters tradition and enhances feelings of connection across generations.
Revisiting favorites lowers cognitive load, increases ease of processing, and reduces stress levels.
Familiarity strengthens parasocial connections with media characters, increasing meaning and belonging.
The key points above are from the article Reap the Benefits of Rewatching Your Favorite Movies by Dr. Pam Rutledge at Fielding Graduate University, and it says:
We rewatch shows for emotion, not plot.
And this:
Returning to something known and consistent when life feels chaotic can ground us and help us regulate our emotions.
That part is what really grabs me: Rewatching is grounding and regulating.
Have you thought of rewatching something to help support your nervous system this week?
If so, what are you rewatching? Let me know.
Here are my faves:
1995 BBC Pride and Prejudice (the only one IMHO)
Next Stop Wonderland
The Wedding Singer
The Princess Bride
Steel Magnolias
The Lord of the Rings series
Notting Hill
Derry Girls
Anne of Green Gables
And probably more that I just haven’t thought of.
No amount of rewatching will change the world. No amount of rewatching will stop evil.
But it might just give us some spoons back to be able to shovel the bad stuff out with prayer and protest.
Ha Ha Haiku
A funny haiku for you every week in every newsletter, whether it’s one of my own or one I curate for you. HA. Ha. Haiku.
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Photo by Abigail Munday
Ruminate ‘Til You’re Sick of It
I heard therapist Lori Gottlieb on a podcast say that if you have a problem with ruminating, set a 10-minute timer every day and just ruminate during that time.
Do it every day until you’re sick of it.
Except that I ruminate all day every day.
Have any of you tried this? If so, send me a message and let me know how it was for you. I’m genuinely curious. Does it really work? Would it work for NDs with busy brains?
I get email newsletters from Dr. Alice Nicholls, a neurodivergent clinical psychologist in the UK.
In her September 1, 2025 email, she talks about busy minds and offers these 4 strategies to help your mind relax:
Notice, acknowledge, redirect. She says the main point isn’t to stop the thoughts but to distance them a bit. Dr. Nicholls says, “You can even say something to yourself like 'oh there's that thought again' or 'thanks brain' and then gently turn your attention to whatever you are doing right now. If it comes back (and it likely will) just repeat the process.”
Worry postponement. Schedule in worry time for later.
Meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises. Sometimes 4-7-8 works for me: breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 7, breathe out for 8. Or just saying, “Jesus, help” works, or repeating a Bible verse like Exodus 33:14: “The Lord replied, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’”
Add in some cognitive or auditory stimulation. I tend to go for podcasts like “Happier with Gretchen Rubin” or “Midnight Burger” (sci-fi). For music, I love Adele and Zalem (French didgeridoo musicians), Monks of Senegal, and Hey Ocean! among a lot of others.
My takeaway from all of this? Acknowledge that you have a busy beany brain, accept that it’s just like that, use it creatively, say no to the intrusive thoughts, and do what you can to interrupt it sometimes.
We interrupt this broadcast…for some beany braininess.
Photo by Abigail Munday
Yeehawesome!
Yeehawesome! is a happy-brain roundup in each issue of Beany Brain. What’s happening that’s good in brain land? What’s bringing me joy?
A big pot of black-eyes peas on New Year’s Day! My grandma used to make them every year on the 1st, and I do too. I have to order them dried, and every year I upgrade my recipe a little bit. Now they’re on the spicy side! Homemade cornbread is also an absolute must.
I’ve just completed a 500-day streak on Duolingo! Interestingly enough, and surprisingly to me, my new favorite subject there (out of the 5 that I do) is chess. Exercising my body every day? Enjoying learning chess? Who is this girl?
I was teaching a student English this week and used this Frida Kahlo painting in one of our lessons. It’s called El Autobus (The Bus), and even though I think Frida Kahlo is a wonderful artist, I’d never seen this particular one before. I love it. I had my student answer wh- questions about it: What? When? Where? Why? Who? Maybe I need to teach her that completely legitimate English vocabulary word that everyone’s using these days: yeehawesome.
El Autobus by Frida Kahlo
Quote of the Week
She read with an eagerness which hardly left her power of comprehension, and from impatience of knowing what the next sentence might bring, was incapable of attending to the sense of the one before her eyes.
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Beany Brownie Points and Extra Bonus Funniness
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Wonderful Wednesday
Wonderful Wednesday was a day once a year in college when they would suddenly and surprisingly call off all classes and we’d play all day. The cafeteria provided special fun food and we’d do stuff outside like slip ‘n slides and jello wrestling in sumo suits. This segment of Beany Brain is dedicated to that memory of silliness and fun—no words, just a photo from the week that I’ve taken or found that reminds me to let the joy in. Since Beany Brain is published on Wednesday every week (at least, Wednesday in Japan), I hope you enjoy this Wonderful Wednesday.
Photo by Abigail Munday
Today’s Beany-full Summary:
Rewatching (or rereading) is good for the soul.
Strategies for interrupting busy brains: set a time to ruminate; notice, acknowledge, redirect; worry postponement; mediate, breathe; add in some cognitive or auditory stimulation.
Go forth in Beany joy. What will help you feel yeehawesome this week?
Thank you for reading this installment of Beany Brain! You’re very welcome to hop on by any old time.
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