[R] Furiously Happy, by: Jenny Lawson

Furiously Happy

A Funny Book About Horrible Things
by: Jenny Lawson

★★★★★

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?

Finishing this book was the greatest high point of this summer and its only beginning. But I'm sure nothing will top it. After reading "Let's Pretend This Never Happened", I thought that the second one was going to be even funnier and it was, but also it was even more inspiring. It is a wonderful book that everyone has to read, doesn't matter if you did not read the first book, read this one, you'll love it. And even more if you struggle with a mental illness, this book will totally help you out A LOT.

"Because quitting might be easier, but it wouldn't be better"

Furiously Happy is a state of being. The whole point of the author, Jenny, is to live our live furiously happy no matter the bad days/weeks/years. We must overcome the bad days and keep in our minds the best moments for when does days arrive. Because to see the rainbow we must overcome the rain for maybe a few days. This book is an autobiography, yes, but it doesn't mean that anything in your life cannot be reflected in hers. You'll find so many hilarious things, some fucked up things and other things that will make you think so much that your mind might explode (in my case, it did). She writes, I think, exactly like she was talking to you in front of your house and looking at the garden while the kids play. You might think she is bullshiting you, but she is not (she got proof). You might want to stop reading the book at some point, please do not. Every little story is telling you something that she learn (the hard way) and that we must heard for ourselves. She's real, raw and believe me, is not bullshit, is real.

"I considered it for a moment and decided that a broken and tattered but still ecstatically happy Rory [the raccoon in the cover] was pretty much exactly what being furiously happy was all about. After all, the most interesting of us have been broken and mended and broken again."

Even though I might not be diagnosticated with a mental illness, I really believe that everyone (even me) have some traits of them inside. I mean, I'm always anxious about anything and everything, but doesn't mean that I have anxiety (but maybe I do, who knows!). There will be days that I don't even want to go out of bed, but doesn't mean I have depression. The bad days need to be overcome and if you can one day, it's okay, the next day you might feel like it. People treat mental illnesses like is nothing worse than a flu, which is not. Having a mental illness is something real, serious and that affects everyone who is around. This book taught me that everything can be better with the correct ingredients. To always, try, to look out for the good parts and that "this" too shall pass.

"Don't sabotage yourself. There are plenty of other people willing to do that for free."

I am not kidding when I tell you to read this book. This book will help you or a friend or a family member. Do not ignore it, read the book! Laugh a little now and read me later!

"I spend a impressive amount of time doing absolutely nothing. Like, I'm at pro level. Because that's how artistic genius works. And because I'm very, very lazy."

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"On the way in here I saw a cloud that looked like a skull. My first thought? Death Eaters."