Furiously Happy, by Jenny Lawson

5 I am not alone stars!!

Oh this book… it hit so many points with me.  The ups the downs and the downs… This is Jenny Lawson’s second book and I am so glad she wrote it.  There is such a stigma with mental illness that shouldn’t be there.  No one should be ashamed to get help or ask for help.  Yet so many people are afraid of what people will say or do when they find out. Mental illness is a daily, hourly, and minute by minute battle for so many people.  This book chronicles Jenny’s life and how her thought process works.  She chronicles her medicine, and therapist visits.  It also show’s how her family helps her through this and how completely loving and wonderful her husband and child are. (although the arguments are slightly hilarious).

She has so many amazing points in this book, such as while we may be diagnosed with the same illness it doesn’t mean we will react the same way.  Her panic attacks may not look like your panic attacks.  Her depression may not manifest like your depression.  We all could take the same medicine and not all have the same outcome.  Unfortunately with this there is a lot of trial and error. A good support system is key whether it be a therapist you find you are comfortable with or family/friends to lean on when needed.  (honestly you don’t have stick with the first therapist or doctor… find one you are comfortable with.) The important part of your book is to know that you are not alone.. ever.  We are here to support each other.

This book touched so many places in my heart because I could relate to so much of it.  I was diagnosed years ago with social anxiety disorder, depression and body dysmorphia.  While most days I can fake it until I make it, some days I can barely function. My family is very supportive and has never made me feel bad about any of my illnesses.  However I feel bad enough for all of them. Like Jenny says depression lies to us on a daily basis.

“If everything is perfect and I’m miserable, then is this as good as it gets?

And the answer is no

It gets better.

You learn to appreciate the fact that what drives you is different from what you’re told should make you happy.  You learn that it’s okay to prefer your personal idea of heaven (live-tweeting zombie movies from under a blanket of kittens) rather than someone else’s idea that fame/fortune/parties are the pinnacle we should all reach for. And there’s something surprisingly freeing about that.”

And while some parts of the book were serious some were also laugh out loud funny. I got some seriously strange looks at work…

“Always shoot first. Because bears don’t shoot.  They just eat you. You’ll never win if you wait for the bear to get the first shot. This is all basic hunting 101.”

All the opossum stories were hilarious.. however while they were happening were probably terrifying.  Every time she called her lady area the lady garden.. that is one of the nicest terms I have heard. When she explained to her husband about how to respond when she asks if her outfit is okay I had tears rolling down my face with laughter. Her  raccoon was an absolute hoot! I feel the need to own one now!!

I highly suggest this book to every one whether you have a mental illness or not.  I know I will be re-reading this book especially all the parts I marked.(which was basically the whole book!)

Find the Goodreads link here

book blurb…

Hardcover, 329 pages

Published September 22nd 2015 by Flatiron Books

Original Title Furiously Happy

ISBN 1250077001 (ISBN13: 9781250077004)

In LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, Jenny Lawson baffled readers with stories about growing up the daughter of a taxidermist. 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.'”

Jenny’s first book, LET’S PRETEND THIS NEVER HAPPENED, was ostensibly about family, but deep down it was about celebrating your own weirdness. FURIOUSLY HAPPY is a book about mental illness, but under the surface it’s about embracing joy in fantastic and outrageous ways-and who doesn’t need a bit more of that