The Manic Bookadillos discussion

Hi all!

The final stretch is here, and what a ride it's been! From reading Jenny Lawson's eclectic musings to her incredibly insightful insights, I feel like I've gotten a lot from her story.

Jenny shared several of stories which resonated with me in this section. I really liked the photo she shared on page 228 because I felt like her energy really summed up her photo session experience. When she looks at it and says "It was goddamn potateriffic," I felt that; it's nice to have something tangible to hold and be like "yeah, that's me." Do you have something like a photo or a past project that brings up a sense of potaterrific accomplishment or gratitude towards yourself? For me, it is the first magazine I published an article in. I have a copy stored in my mom's basement and it pumps me right up.

But while getting pumped up is great, it's not always on the table as Jenny discusses on pages 239-242. When she discussed the guilt associated with sadness when you feel like you souldn't be sad, it really validated me since I totally beat myself up about that feeling. This really made me reflect on this past winter which was rough. I feel a completely renewed sense of gratitude for the little things that made me feel better (like my partner bringing me my favourite sandwich) and a better sense of respect for my process when seemingly important things (good grades, job opportunities etc.) didn't make me feel better at all.

Thinking of making velcro shirts with stick-on spoons so I can better communicate the number of spoons my mental health is working with every day. Any buyers??

What about you, dear readers? What did you think of these sections? Were there any other chapters which stood out to you? Why?

Please share favourite quotes and leave each other some comments on the discussion board!
See you for the 'final thoughts' discussion :)
Hanna

"I sat there for a minute and realized that the fancy neighbourhood I'd felt so alien in had just dropped a possum on me and it's fairly hard to respect the snootiness of any neighbourhood that drops possums and that's when I started to think that maybe we'd fit in anyway." p281

Hanna wrote: "Hi all!

The final stretch is here, and what a ride it's been! From reading Jenny Lawson's eclectic musings to her incredibly insightful insights, I feel like I've gotten a lot from her story.

Je..."

Hanna I am with you on the velcro spoons! I loved this bit in the book where we all have a certain amount of spoons to use. It's a great way to give some perspective into my mental health and even my social limitations, as it is hard as an introvert to put myself out there (more than I always thought was justified before). I would buy, in fact I will co-produce these with you! Hahaha

On page 318 to 319, I love the part that she acknowledges a positive to mental illness: "There are terrible sides to illness...but it's strangely freeing that my personal struggle is obvious and has to be acknowledged. In a way I'm lucky. My depressions and periods of anxiety and paranoia were so extreme that I could not keep them much of a secret...And louder than all were the whispers tha became stronger every day from thousands and thousands of people creeping to the edge and quietly admitting, "Me too. I thought it was just me."

That's something the Manic Family has really given me, that sense of 'I thought it was just me'. The community in being able to relate to the struggles that mental illness gives..it's so validating to see this from others. Not that I wish these struggles on anyone, but it feels like I am heard and a little less crazy when someone else says they get it.