Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things

When you come out of the grips of a depression there is an incredible relief, but not one you feel allowed to celebrate. Instead, the feeling of victory is replaced with anxiety that it will happen again, and with shame and vulnerability when you see how your illness affected your family, your work, everything left untouched while you struggled to survive. We come back to life thinner, paler, weaker … but as survivors. Survivors who don’t get pats on the back from coworkers who congratulate them on making it. Survivors who wake to more work than before because their friends and family are exhausted from helping them fight a battle they may not even understand. I hope to one day see a sea of people all wearing silver ribbons as a sign that they understand the secret battle, and as a celebration of the victories made each day as we individually pull ourselves up out of our foxholes to see our scars heal, and to remember what the sun looks like.

"A viscerally beautiful book about mad raccoons, murderous swans, and the spirit of being furiously happy. I really loved this book. Jenny Lawson speaks about mental illness with such care and honesty and empathy. This book made me cry more than laugh but I think my tears came from the hope that this book encapsulates, the hope that life can be better and that someone being a little messed up makes those better moments brighter."
- Emma, Goodreads