About a book that is helping me

[lipstix]

I've been reading this book, Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things by Jenny Lawson, a woman who has suffered from various mental illnesses throughout her life, and I think it's a good read for anyone who suffers from a mental illness. It's done a lot for me already.

I'm garbage at summaries and breaking things down into easy parts, so here's the GoodReads blurb:

In her new book, FURIOUSLY HAPPY, Jenny explores her lifelong battle with mental illness. A hysterical, ridiculous book about crippling depression and anxiety? That sounds like a terrible idea. And terrible ideas are what Jenny does best.

According to Jenny: "Some people might think that being 'furiously happy' is just an excuse to be stupid and irresponsible and invite a herd of kangaroos over to your house without telling your husband first because you suspect he would say no since he's never particularly liked kangaroos. And that would be ridiculous because no one would invite a herd of kangaroos into their house. Two is the limit. I speak from personal experience. My husband says that none is the new limit. I say he should have been clearer about that before I rented all those kangaroos."

"Most of my favorite people are dangerously fucked-up but you'd never guess because we've learned to bare it so honestly that it becomes the new normal. Like John Hughes wrote in The Breakfast Club, 'We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it.' Except go back and cross out the word 'hiding.'"

She doesn't speak to the reader condescendingly or purport that she's defeated any of her mental illnesses. She's candid about needing to speak to shrinks and taking meds and self-harm and how she continues to be diagnosed with more disorders and illnesses, but she's made the decision to do it all 'furiously happy.' Meaning, she wants to throw caution to the wind and do whatever she wants to do as a big 'fuck you' to her demons that try to tell her she can't/shouldn't/will not. And no, 'furiously happy' isn't the same as 'Just cheer up.'

I really admire her. She's really funny. We should laugh at ourselves more because when we do we rack up a point against our illnesses. She's just really highly relatable when she talks about her stuff. I'm half asleep right now so sorry if this is all a rambling mess with bad grammar and whatever. I just wanted people who didn't know to know that there is a great book out there written by someone suffering too and that it is guaranteed to make you laugh at the very least. Books are a really powerful thing.

 

[nobodyknows71]

Hi thanks for the recommendation, I'll definitely be having a look.

 

[Tor]

I was on the fence about purchasing this book, but now I see how it could be quite helpful. Thanks for the recommendation!