Furiously Happy

 Furiously Happy (2015) by Jenny Lawson

Lawson's funny, honest, and sometimes painfully funny and painfully honest memoir gives the reader an up close and personal look at how life works (and sometimes doesn't) in the life of someone who battles anxiety and severe depression. She manages to examine herself, her feelings, and her reactions to this existence with openness and a sense of humor. She's often over-the-top, but as she explains:

I've often thought that people with severe depression have developed such a well for experiencing extreme emotion that they might be able to experience extreme joy in a way that "normal" people also might never understand, and that's what FURIOUSLY HAPPY is all about. It's about taking those moments that are fine and making them amazing, because those moments are what make us who we are, and they're the same moments we take into battle with us when our brains declare war on our very existence.

She has decided to "seize the day" and live life to the fullest when her depression and anxiety will allow her to do so. To go out on limbs and push herself to her limits and squeeze every bit of joy out every moment that she can. Finding extreme happiness whenever possible helps her to live through the days where nothing seems to be right in her world. And that isn't such a bad philosophy for those of us who don't experience the difficulties she and her "tribe" (as she calls all those who can relate to her journey through life) do. We all should get the most out of our good times, not only to help carry us through the times that aren't so good but also so we can experience life to the fullest. ★★★★

First lines: "You're not crazy. STOP CALLING YOURSELF CRAZY," my mom says for the eleventy billionth time.

Last line: And sometimes...
                  ...sometimes we fly.