Not much to report here, except that the gnomes and ogres are still having their dance party. I’ve just tried to stay busy doing jobs around the house when the energy permits, getting outside every day, reading a ton and binge-watching Outlander in anticipation of season 4 coming out on Netflix.
I started reading a book I started in the summer, and I had to share it. If you need some perspective, and some good laughs, I highly recommend Furiously Happy by Jenny Lawson. She is also known as The Bloggess and has a thing about taxidermy, as well as an interesting perspective of the world from living with mental illness her whole life.
With chapter titles like “Koalas are Full of Chlamydia” and “Voodoo Vagina”, this is not a self-help book. Yet somehow, it’s very helpful in its own bizarre way. Here are some nuggets from the sections I’ve been reading:
“My psychiatrist told me that when things get rough I should consider my battle with mental illness as if I were “exorcising a demon” and I was like, “Well, no wonder I’m failing so miserably. I’m shit at exercising.”
“Like my grandmother always said, “Your opinions are valid and important. Unless it’s some stupid bullshit you’re being shitty about, in which case you can go fuck yourself.”
“Did you know that kangaroos have three vaginas? Because they totally do and that’s probably why they’re always hitting each other. They probably have PMS every damn day of the week. But on the plus side, kangaroos have plenty of places to smuggle things, with so many holes in their bodies. In fact, they’re so full of holes it’s sort of shocking that all the kangaroo doesn’t just leak out.”
Okay, so she’s random. Maybe that’s what I’m responding to, along with her complete honesty about living with mental illness. I have tremendous empathy for people who live with mental illness throughout their lives. This is new for me, depression was not something I had experienced until two years ago, and so far it has come and gone within several weeks – fingers crossed this time. Living with this feeling day in and day out over years, takes a special kind of fortitude.
It is only in sharing our experiences and being honest that we will break the stigma of mental illness. It is the most rampant of all the invisible illnesses, and it’s time that it was taken as seriously as physical ailments. There should be no shame in admitting that you’re struggling, and it’s important to reach out and ask for help if you’re not coping. You are not alone.
Do you have any books about depression, anxiety or other mental illness that you recommend? I’d love any suggestions in the comments. Links for the book below for your convenience.
Have a wonderful week!
❤️ Amanda
Amazon.ca: Furiously Happy
Amazon.com: Furiously Happy
Amazon.co.uk: Furiously Happy
Walk a Myelin* My Shoes 
This is great.💖💖💖💖🥰🥰🥰🥰
Sent from my iPad
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😘Thank you! 💕
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thank you for this book review. bless you!
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Ok, now I want to read this book! Thank you for the recommendation!
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No problem! I woke my husband up last night, giggling about ‘kitten mittens’. 🤣🤣🤣You’ll love it! 💕💕💕
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I’ve reserved this to collect at the library, it sounds brilliant!
I wrote my post on life-changing reads & self help books recently (https://invisiblyme.com/2019/01/10/12-life-changing-reads-2019/)
& wish I’d have included this one. Next time…
Thanks for sharing!! 🙂
Caz xx
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Thanks Caz, I hope you love it. I loved your list and will definitely be checking some of those out. Have a great day! 💕
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One of my favorite books is by an old time actress, long since gone, and it is called Advice from a Failure from a Failure by Jo Coudert. In it she states, “Of all the people you will know in a lifetime, you are the only one you will never leave nor lose. To the question of your life, you are the only answer. To the problems of your life, you are the only solution.” This is the premise of Jo Coudert’s brilliant book, hailed by psychiatrists and layman alike as a breakthrough in the field of self-understanding. No other book is comparable in its intelligent synthesis of knowledge of the workings of the human mind in terms designed to be of immediate and practical benefit to the reader.
This comes from the intro to the book, which is available on Amazon.com. I think a good number of us have lived with some form and degree of depression over many years. It is good that there are many books on the topic out there for one of them will surely fit the needs of one of us. Thank you for a good post.
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Thank you, I’ll definitely look into that. That first sentence did it for me, sums it up beautifully. Thanks so much for the suggestion!
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I love Jenny Lawson and my whole family loved this book. They heard me laughing so much while I was reading it that my kids stole it while I was at work so that they could see what was so funny! We all loved it. Somewhere while reading I began to think this woman’s family seemed a lot like mine. Sure enough, we were raised about 75 miles from each other… Jenny’s the best. I follow her on FB!
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Haha, that’s awesome. Yes, she speaks the truth for a lot of people in her fearless, quirky way. More and more, things that people felt shame about for lifetimes are connecting people in an unreal way. Thanks for the follow!!
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