This is for you.

in Random Crap

When this year started my only goal was to survive it.  I was still struggling with finishing Furiously Happy and was terrified you’d hate it.  I was scared of the book tour and I was certain I’d end up in the hospital again.  I was afraid that Hailey and Victor would miss me too much while I was gone, or worse, not miss me at all.  I was afraid that I’d lose everyone when I fell into the darkness or hid away or couldn’t reply to emails or texts for a month because my head went a little sideways.

But none of that happened.  I finished the book that I’d said for years I couldn’t finish.  I traveled to 20+ cities and met amazing people who hid with me under tables and cried with me and laughed with me.  I read my deepest secrets to them and they understood, and that very book I was afraid would drive people away is still clinging onto the best-seller list 3 months later.  I spent all my free time at home with my family and people continued to come here even though I was a little absent.  I shared the strange drawings I make in hotel rooms when I’m afraid to leave and found that people liked them, which was a wonderful gift I wouldn’t have found if I wasn’t the type of person who gets stuck in hotels.  I tried harder this year.  I failed a lot but I found that my failures were less visible to others than I thought.  And I succeeded too, but not in the ways other people might recognize.  I succeeded because this year showed me a little more that it’s okay to be broken because people will wait for you.  People are kind.  People are good.  And I’m people, so I guess that means I’m good too.  Or at least, better than the terrified and doubting girl I was at the beginning of the year.  I’m still terrified and doubting, but less so, and so much of that is due to you.

Thank you for this year.  Thank you for being there through the good and the bad.  Thank you for all of it.  I wish you all a happy new year.

PS. I made this for you:

"She taught me that it was better to be uniquely broken than perfectly the same."
“She taught me that it was better to be uniquely broken than perfectly the same.”

203 thoughts on “This is for you.”

Read comments below or add one.

  5. Seriously, could not love Jenny more. You inspire & help us all save poke own lives. Thank you a billion times over.

  6. You are beautiful, every bit of you. Thank you for sharing yourself with us.

    Also, I took a Rory to Antarctica, but completely failed to take a picture, so I have a picture of Rory that has been to Antarctica inside a book in a backpack. So, win-not-win?

  9. I want, no NEED to purchase some of your drawings. Where can I do that? Please tell me they are in your store so I can have “uncut cocaine” on my bank account! 🙂

  13. Thank you, and happy new year.
    I’ve survived this year so far as well, and as it has not been fun for me either, I am thankful for that. Also the cats, and friends, and people like you, who are also friends, kinda.
    Much love.

  15. May you realize that you are loved. Not just by family but by a tribe that lives with you, too. We, the broken, have become Furiously Happy because of your openness and strength. You have shined a little light into this world and like moths to the flame we followed. You have given us the same strength to light up our piece of the world. And for this (and so much more) I, no WE! thank you. May 2016 bring you all you can handle and a bit more.

  18. It’s always a surprise to me when people are willing to wait. My first impulse is to cut and run, but I’m learning to fight that thanks to those people. Happy New Year!

  19. I really want that feather as wall art. It’s beautiful. Happy New Year to you and this whole community.

  20. Thanks for the awesome drawing– have you considered making a coloring book? It would be amazing! Happy New Year to you!

  23. Happy New Year, Jenny. And thank you for being you and writing these beautiful books that made me laugh during a time when I was surrounded by darkness. I will always be grateful to you for that and will continue to pass your books on to others in need of laughter (or taxidermy lifestyle tips:)

    Wishing you all the best in this next year!

    —Brittany

  24. Don’t forget the gift you’ve given those of us who do not suffer from depression or anxiety: greater compassion for and understanding of those who do. Thank you.

  26. Happy New Year and thank you for your wonderful writing! It helps so much <3
    Also, if you released a colouring book of your pictures I (and many others i am sure) would love to buy it!

  27. Thank YOU, Jenny! Oh, my gosh, you are so much less broken than you realize, and that means so are we. We are all healing in tiny increments that we’re not aware of yet.

  29. A very Happy New Year to you and yours. I’m glad that I got to share a very tiny portion of 2015 with you and a bookstore full of other Lawsbians. Thanks for your honesty. You’ve made it easier for my 16yo to live with her anxiety. You’re also opening up the eyes of other people who don’t know what it’s like. IMHO, your books should be required reading for anyone who has to deal with students – the information you provide is truly eye opening. If I had a dollar for every well meaning adult who’s told me that Lg Fry just needs to be more outgoing or that she should not bury herself in books, I’d have enough money to buy them all some Xanax…. Keep writing and drawing and buying silly taxidermied things and hugging Hailey and keeping Victor on his toes.

  30. Wow. You just made me feel like someone else understands. Sounds like you’ve had an amazing year. I hope 2016 showers you with all the benefits and awards you earned this year!

  34. “I failed a lot but found my failures were less visible to others than I thought.” This reminded me of what my husband would say after watching one of my daughter’s plays – “You might have messed up but we couldn’t tell, we’ve never seen this play before.” Maybe life is like that – we really don’t know how it should look, so even with mistakes, it looks great to us in the audience. And we are all clapping loudly shouting “Encore!” to you. I look forward to book #3, your adult coloring book, and whatever other shenanigans you have planned & unplanned in the future. Happy NYE!

  35. Yay and congratulations and Happy New Year! I just wish I hadn’t been out of town when you were here.

  41. Happy New Year!
    Have you thought about writing a coloring book with your drawings? I love them and think it would be peaceful as hell coloring them. 😃

  42. You did it. I did it. We all did it. Made it through a great and crappy year. And now on to the next great and crappy year! I’m looking forward to all the greatness and crappiness – aren’t you?

  46. My son gave me Furiously Happy for Christmas, and I couldn’t be more excited! I passed on my copy of your first book to him when I had finished it, during a particularly dark time for him which he battles periodically. After reading it, he thought you were awesome… so I told him about your blog. He became a loyal convert. Thanks for all you do and Happy New Year!

  47. I would also like to have that on my wall. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us.

  48. Happy New Year!!!! Finally reading my autographed copy Furiously Happy now and loving it. Read the first half in one sitting. It was great to meet you!

  49. i know that the flip side of the hilarity i so love about your stories is real pain. know that you are not alone in your struggles, and that your efforts are greatly appreciated. happy new year to you and yours!

  51. Congratulations on being able to do more than survive (although just surviving is fine). Have a great new year!

  52. Aaaah! Bunched in the feels! I love you and owe you more than I can possibly ever explain great big squishy hugs I hope next year I get to hide in a blanket fort with you and drink wine slushies or some shit moar hugs

  53. I would also like to color the drawing. It’s wonderful as it is but I could color it over and over and not get tired of it because each one would be unique. 😀 Is it OK to print it?
    P.s. Happy New Year!

  54. Beautiful! All the things you were afraid of you did. What a great accomplishment. Congratulations! And I loved your book xoxox

  55. Afraid we wouldn’t like the new book? Dear lady, you could slap your name on the front of the phone book, and we’d all spend weeks digging through to find all the little treasures, all the reasons to love Jenny’s latest book! I almost wish you could see yourself as we see you, but if you did, then you wouldn’t be the hilarious, endearing and relatable Bloggess we all love!

  56. You help people understand parts of themselves and their loved ones that have gone unexplained. It matters – I hope you know. Thanks for all you share, and a happy, healthy New Year to you and the family. 🙂

  57. Happy New Year, my dear. When are you going to publish an adult colouring book? A idea for 2016. Love you.

  59. I love you guys. And I’m totally working on a coloring book. But sort of more than a coloring book. Trying to figure that one out. But you can totally print that out and color it. Working on a bunch more now. Gives me something to do when I’m feeling panicky.

  60. I am loving your book. My brother bought one for everyone in the family. It is roll off the bed laughing funny in parts and sweet and serious in other parts. I’m so glad you made it through.

  62. I at least like to think of myself as an artist and I must say your stuck in the hotel art is amazingly beautiful and something I couldn’t replicate. Aren’t all artists a little quirky or abnormal? I wouldn’t want myself or you to be any different or more normal
    May 2016 knock your socks off.

  63. Happy New Year! Thank you for inviting us into your head, and under your table. Here’s to good things we have now and better things ahead, I hope. 😀

    (This year wasn’t good for me. I’m going after next year with a baseball bat – it is going to be better or else!)

  64. Love you more! Thank You for getting me through the mean parts! Watch out for Universal High-5’s…they will come in the form of goats and bleats…Happy New Year 🙂

  65. Happiest of new years to you and yours! But what, pray tell, am I supposed to read in bed now that I’ve finished Furiously Happy? You’ve ruined me for all my regular choices. (I love you anyway, though.)

  66. Have a wonderful New Year. You inspire me so much. I am a “weirdly wonderful” person and it is good to know that I am not alone. I also think your coloring book is a cool idea. I color for stress relief(I can’t choke annoying people).

  68. have a happy new year, Jenny. you are an inspiration and warm us all with your ( sometimes flickering but always beautiful) Light

  70. Happy New Year Jenny! I have enjoyed reading your book this year. It helped me so much. I get stuck a lot & feel bad about it. I learned that it’s okay and I don’t have to feel bad. I wanted to come see you when you were close but I couldn’t come out that day. It made me so mad at myself but it does no good, The last few months I’ve been having a harder time than usual with anxiety. I will meet you one day. You are brave and kind and full of awesome! Thank you for sharing your life.
    JennyL.

  74. you are awesome and you make my heart happy 🙂 Thank you for being you and sharing yourself with us 🙂

  75. Wishing you, Victor, Hailey, and all the various furry incarnations in your home, the very very Happiest New Year. Thank you for all you do for your internet family. We love you. 🙂

  77. This was the year I quit my job. This was the year of electric shock therapy. This was the year I wanted to die and then suddenly I wanted to not die but also live a little. My family loved me through it all and we found laughter while mommy was gone and that it was ok for mommy to go away because she will always come back. I survived this year and I am actually looking forward to parts of next year.

  80. Happy New Year, Jenny! Thanks for all the laughs, the tears, the reassurances that being broken doesn’t mean being lost. I’m looking forward to spending 2016 with my Unicorns & F-Bombs, Y’all calendar.

  81. after having one of the shittiest years of my life, you continue to inspire me…all the best Jenny….Happy New Year!

  83. The world would be a creepier dark place without you Jenny. So keep shining your weird light since it’s a bit brighter than you realize. You give hope to those of us with depression. <3 you.

  85. Jenny, you, and this community, bring so much awesome into the world! Thank you all!

  86. Thank you for the bad ass gift! I AM a bad ass mother fucker : D. I learned to speak more plainly across the spectrum of my life, and feel better about owning the oddity of me (aka the uniqueness of me), and have felt less and less inclined to “pass”. And if people don’t like it, C’est La Vie (I’m listening to Edith Piaf sing in English and Robert Goulet sing in French, it’s rubbing off lol). Thank you for shining a light on this path. You have truly made a difference.

  87. You’re illustration is Mahvelous!
    Happy New Year, Jenny! You have been a big inspiration for me this year. I’m so glad I had the opportunity to meet you in Denver, even though I went all “deer in the headlights/fan girl” on you.

  89. I want this as a poster. Or a car magnet… Or a tablecloth. I don’t use tablecloths but if this were on one, I would totally consider it.

  90. Y’know — it would just be supremely annoying if you weren’t at least a little effed up! You’ve got a gazillion blog/twitter/instagram/etc followers; you’ve written not just one but TWO great books that topped the best seller lists; you draw capacity crowds to your book readings; AND you create this fabulous art that you call “doodles.” While being married to a great guy and raising a smart and beautiful child!!! Oh, and conducting the occasional successful fundraiser….I mean — c’mon, lady! Sheesh.

    ; )

    So, hide under tables and in bathrooms; construct tiny, intricate models and artful doodles; watch Dr. Who marathons; do whatever it takes to make it through to the bright side, however long it takes. We’ll wait and we’ll understand. If, like Allie Brosh, you drop off the grid for a long time, we’ll worry. But not out of selfish need for more of your humor and insightful prose; only out of hope that you’re okay. At least, I like to think that that’s the majority of your followers. Eff the rest.

  92. Thank you, Jenny. I’ve had a year about as bad as yours was. You’ve been an inspiration throughout. It got better. I displayed my frailties, and people rallied. I discovered friends I didn’t know I already had.

    And I would totally take a print of that art. I need it on my kitchen wall.

    Happy 2016.

  94. Oh Jenny, you make my cry that you hurt, you make me laugh at your stories, and you make me feel that it’s all right to be broken as long as we stay alive. Your books have made me furiously happy, and can pull me up when I’m going down. Never forget your tribe loves you. And I love your art!

  95. Jenny, 2015 has been a not so great year for my younger daughter. She greatly admires you and loves your writing. She was in the Bay Area and had solid plans to go to both of your book signings until crazy, hateful, sad life threw her a knock-out punch and she couldn’t make either one. Part of what kept her away was fear, which I’m sure you can relate to. She’s since moved home and until last night was doing pretty okay. Being “alone” on New Year’s Eve is hard for her (mom is no replacement for her lost love). Today, I read parts of your book out loud and both of us laughed uproariously and cried and read, lying on the bed together until we couldn’t read anymore. Our voices and breath wore out. Thank you for being a LIGHT in a sometimes dark time and for inspiring us.

  96. Hey!
    I love you for being you. It’s helped someone that I love very much be more OK with being them. And that is a gift beyond what I could have ever hoped for..
    Much love,
    Mrs. Hotypeter

  100. Thanks for making us laugh and cry and decide to keep going. All your efforts are so worth it. I’ve passed on your first book to my best friend who cursed me via text late at night for sending it before her school vacation started. She was already three chapters in and late for sleep, but she needed raccoons in tiny Jams, even if she didn’t know it. Can’t wait to send her the second one.

  101. Happy New Year to you too, Jenny. The honesty in your blog posts and your books reach straight to my heart. Thank you for sharing your struggles, because it helps to know that someone understands, and for sharing your successes, because it gives us hope when we are struggling; for your humour, that provides light in the darkness, and for reminding us that it’s okay to be broken. And thank you for bringing together this tribe, this community of like-minded folks. Wishing all of us a 2016 full of opportunities and blessings.

  103. Damnit Jenny, you’re going to make me cry again.
    Thanks so much for taking us along on your journey, You are a wonderful, sensitive, smart, artistic being and I am so glad you are writing books that make us all have hope. Happy New Year to your family and you and I hope your new year is full of happy and brave events for you and yours.

  104. Before Anne Lamott’s last book, she posted on FB that she was afraid no one would like it. Now I can’t finish writing mine for the same reason. So it’s comforting (sorry) to see you had the same thoughts. I’m in good company! (still scared tho)

  105. Happy New Year to you and your family Jenny. I love Furiously Happy as well as Let’s Pretend This Didn’t Happen and I am still introducing your blog, and both books to my friends! You are getting so much praise from those friends that I introduced to you through your blog and your books. It was so awesome to go with my daughter @bookshopsc to meet you! You are just as awesome and funny in person as you are in your blog and books. I really enjoyed that time we met and will always be such a precious memory! Thank you again for being you! Happy New Year Jenny!

  108. Happy New Year! I found your book today for the first time in my neck of the woods here. So some random Target store in Grand Rapids, Michigan now has Furiously Happy! I would add a picture, hell I even took one but I apparently can’t add a picture here… random sad cyberman noise

  110. Thank you for the help and joy you’ve brought into my life. You are beyond good! Happy New Year, Jenny!

  111. Jenny, I just want to thank you for all of your kindness, warmth, wisdom– and yes, your fearlessness. I loved both of your books! Just this afternoon I got to use your “anti-psychotic meds” advice from “Furiously Happy” on an asshole in Wal-Mart who thought it was okay to push past me because he “didn’t see” me there.
    Your words have only been heard once before by me–only inside of my head. what I mean is that, your books and your posts seem to mirror so many of my own moments. Only without the taxidermy. When I read your first book, I thought for a moment that we were long-lost relatives. That’s just how much I understood each and every word you wrote. It was as if you were speaking directly to me.
    Please don’t ever stop doing all that you do–and being just who you are.

  113. Thank you for another year of laughs, tears, and understanding. Thank you for being you, and for being the kind of friend I didn’t know I needed until I found you and this amazing community. I hope 2016 brings you all the best.

  116. Maybe the reason I keep failing to post a comment is because the universe wants me to keep it simple. Or because I keep entering the wrong WordPress password. Either way, I want to say: thank you for inspiring me to finally write funny stuff instead of just telling all my sad stories and then never showing them to anybody because they’re too sad. Thanks to you, I’m finding actually happiness in my writing, and I was SO excited the read your new book. And grateful you were willing to go through everything you had to go through this past year to get it in our hands. Happy New Year!

  118. Wishing you, Victor and Hailey a wonderful 2016 that is full of love, laughter and hope.

  119. Jenny, would you be alright if I got this as a tattoo? Ever since I found you on the blogosphere, you have made my life better. I love your perspective and wit and wisdom, and most of all your honesty. I appreciate everything you do, for yourself and others. I hope 2016 is a banner year for you.

  120. Happy 2016! I’m so glad that 2015 really didn’t suck a wicked lot. It was painful and wearying, and also full of okayness.

  121. I think it’s amazing that you continue to think you are alone in this crazy life. I am 64 and there is not ONE DAY that I awake and don’t think, “what am I worried about today?” You have written two books, you have a husband who loves you and an awesome child and a blog with a following of so many people.. and yet you still worry..worry..worry. I get it. I worry too. All the time. Every day. Happy New Year Jenny. To all of us who waste so much time worrying that we’re ok. Love you.

  122. I got my mom Furiously Happy for Christmas, and she cried. I don’t think she has ever liked a present more. I struggled this year. I finally got help for my depression and anxiety, and I’m hoping to continue to heal in 2016. Your book made me feel better. Genuinely feel better. I will never be able to thank you enough for that.

  124. Happy New Year to you & your family Jenny. Thank You so much for sharing your story and making us all feel a little less broken. You are amazing, even when you hide in hotels and under tables! Your drawings are just added proof of that! 💖

  125. Happy that a coloring book plus more…is what we have to look forward to in the coming year(s)! I gave your books, along with Allie Brosh’s, to someone special, and now have more ppl on my list for The Great Jenny Lawson Furiously Happy Book Distribution of 2016. Lol. For those of us who are broken. For the pieces which make us whole. You are one of those pieces. Thank you, Jenny. 😹

  127. You know those patches people wear? The ones that rhyme with hive or Muldive? Can we have patches, stickers, stick-on tattoos or Japanese fans picturing the Feather of Amazing with Survive in strong lettering written on them? Sell them in your store? Just spit-balling…. In my cave/bed/shelter from the loud. ❤️ (And thank you for sharing your trail and your trials. And Rory. Means everything.)

  128. Hi Jenny! May we have permission to print this and former drawings (hotel doodles), to color? Only for personal use, mind you. I would absolutely purchase this and others as prints (t-shirts, black light posters. Hee).

    (Working on a book of them now. But you can totally print and color for personal use. 🙂 ~ Jenny)

  129. I was one of those spectators on your book tour in Minneapolis. First time ever with a book reading and you did that shit RIGHT. Could not have been happier that I made the time to come after a shitty day at work.

  132. Happy New Year, Jenny – and to everyone who frequents this site! Do your fans have a name like Benedict Cumberbatch’s? I’d like to know what to call myself.

  134. You’re an inspiration. I’m hanging in there too. Writing books, getting nowhere, getting somewhere, not knowing what the hell I’m doing, but I have an intense need to do it. This has been a wild and crazy year for me too. i went from being a bookkeeper who hated working in a cubicle and writing at night about being a bookkeeper stuck in a cubicle dreaming of running a B&B. After book one I sold the the farm house in NH, moved to Florida, wrote two more books then returned this May to New England to run a B&B. If you write it, it will happen.

  135. I’ve loved both your books and your blog so I know that I’ll love your colouring book, too! Thank you for sharing your thoughts, your life, and your awesome humour with all of us who love you. May 2016 be sweet, happy, and fulfilling for you, Victor, and Hailey.

  137. Happy New Year Jenny. Thank you for being real and sharing what so many of us have a hard time expressing. Thanks especially for making it fun and entertaining in an oh so different right way. xoxo (((hugs)))

  138. Thank you for being the amazing woman you are and helping people like me know that we are not alone and that depression lies. PS I think you need to make a coloring book 🙂

  139. Totally love you, Jenny. I’m so grateful that I got to meet you and now have my own copy of Furiously Happy signed by you. You are a force for good in the Universe! Many New Year Blessings to you and to us all.

  140. And a very happy New Year to you, sweet Jenny. You are a wonderful person with a wildly zany sense of humor and an incredible talent. And I still think you should publish a coloring book. So that makes 2 talents – writing and drawing.

  141. Weird how the dark days can sneak up without any warning. I completely understand. That was some of my year too. Somehow I kept trying…. even if I had to focus on “showing up” and letting God do the rest. Now when I look back at my footprints from past year I can be proud at how far I’ve come. I actually went back to college (after 20+yrs!) and got B’s! this Year. This goal has helped me move into a new phase in my relationship with my daughters. I wish a great new year for all of you!

  143. 2015 needed exorcising anyway. You did a fantastic job, Jenny, and the whole tribe has managed to drag itself kicking and shrieking into 2016, which will totally be full of cupcakes and dresses that make us look AWESOME. Even for you dudes. Dresses can make you look awesome too. We’re equal opportunity here.

  144. I needed this tonight in the worst way. I got Furiously Happy back in November, but then my Mom got sick & I never had time to read it. Mom died Dec 8th, and I still can’t read it, because I know it’ll make me feel all the things I just can’t deal with right now.
    Jeez, am I a buzzkill or what? Anyway – here is where I come when I need a break. A laugh. To not feel alone. When the walls are a little too close and I have no where else I can think to run I can escape here.
    Thank you. You’ve made this incredibly shitty last few weeks bearable.
    May we all have a better 2016 than the years that came before.

  145. Thank you for bringing me so much light and joy during such a dark time in my life through your writing 🙂

  147. You are so brave, Jenny! Please keep being you. Thank you, and much love to you & your family for 2016!

  150. Please please please make these drawings of yours available as prints and tshirts!

  151. Just a thank you, Jenny. With all of my heart. You have helped me so much this year. And yes, my wishlist wishes were answered and I am now reading “Furiously Happy” – in hardbound no less! Of course, it has made me cry but it has also made me bark out these strange guttural laughs that come from some place so deep inside of me that I am super grateful to recognize why and let them go. Recognition. And I find it here amidst this amazing tribe too.

    Happy New Year!!

  152. Thank you so much for all of your youness this year, Jenny. Finding you and this amazing community was a highlight of 2015 for me. And Santa listened so I am in the midsty of reading “Furiously Happy” – in hardbound no less! Of course I have cried while doing so but also let out these crazily guttural barks of laughs that come from a place so deep they were begging to come out. 😉
    Wishing you, Victor and Hailey plus everyone here an excellent New Year…

  153. Happy New Year, Jenny! I went to a new years eve party tonight and its hard for me to leave my apartment to get GROCERIES. I’m REALLY tipsy right now as a result and in actuality spent more of the night petting the host’s dogs and telling them they’re pretty girls (I think one might have been a boy) than talking to real people but I wanted to tesll you you’re awesome and you inspire me to suck it up and live my life instead of hiding at home because I’m afraid of everything.

    If you can spend months traveling all over reading to strangers, I can certainly go be with friends for one evening.

    Especially when there’s bubbly on offer. 😀

  155. You are awesome. Believe it.

    Thank you for everything. You make me feel like I’m okay the way I am.

    Happy 2016!!

  159. You are such a beautiful gift. Thank you for everything you expose to all of us, and for making us feel like we are not as alone as we all thought we were. Thank you for the drawing, the song, and for continuing to give. Happy New Year to you Jenny–I hope you (and all of us!) find a way to kick 2016’s teeth in 🙂

  160. “I failed a lot but I found that my failures were less visible to others than I thought. And I succeeded too, but not in the ways other people might recognize. I succeeded because this year showed me a little more that it’s okay to be broken because people will wait for you. People are kind. People are good. And I’m people, so I guess that means I’m good too. Or at least, better than the terrified and doubting girl I was at the beginning of the year. I’m still terrified and doubting, but less so, and so much of that is due to you.”

    Thank you for being you. Happy New Year!!

  162. This looks like My (Friend), Pink Flamingo Mary’s “doodling!” Is this from one of her Coloring Pages?

    (Nope. This is mine. But I just looked up your friend and she’s super talented. I can’t draw faces to save my life. ~ Jenny)

  163. To everything you said in this post, right back atcha darlin’! Hugs and kisses. My life is better with you in it. Sounds corny but it’s true. 🙂

  165. Happy New Year, Jenny and to all of the Tribe!! May our collective 2016’s be the best year yet!!!

  168. Jenny, I was given Furiously Happy as a Christmas gift from my BFF. Like many of your followers, I struggle with anxiety, which is why my friend chose it for me. She wrote, “I died laughing when I read this. More than that, it reminded me of you – a woman who lives a full life even when she struggles daily with depression and anxiety. Inspiring.”

    Right now, I just read the chapter called The Big Quiz, put the book down, and went straight to your blog. I guess it’s a little late, but here’s my take.

    I work as a researcher in academia, where I’m surrounded by incredible people every single day. They fucking blow my mind. Then, I go home where I’m sometimes productive or sometimes I just binge watch X Files. The way that I’ve learned to deal is by learning to love what’s in my own heart. Anxiety may cripple me at times, but I’ve never lost my zeal, compassion, creativity, tenacity – I have an unyielding drive to live a loving, meaningful, deliberate life. Every day is a baby step and nurturing that inner person and fuck what that looks like to anybody else.

    My success is knowing that I will ALWAYS passionately pursue the truest version of myself. I measure my success on whether I feel true to my heart and if I pushed my boundaries to boldly let that person shine.

    Jenny, you just go be you because that person is giving so many people strength and a voice. I read your book and I feel stronger in my convictions (and I also wish I could reach through the pages and hug you). There’s so much power in your story and you’re doing exactly what the world needs you to do. You’re pioneering for mental illness. You’re empowering all of us to live our lives intentionally and with fullness (even when we’re hiding). It’s hard for me to even write that without tearing up. You’re helping all of us find our strength and I just can’t thank you enough. Thank you for your courage and vulnerability (which autocorrected to vibratory). You don’t need to be different for any of us, we need you just as you are.

  169. Jenny, I was given Furiously Happy as a Christmas gift from my BFF. Like many of your followers, I struggle with anxiety, which is why my friend chose it for me. She wrote, “I died laughing when I read this. More than that, it reminded me of you – a woman who lives a full life even when she struggles daily with depression and anxiety. Inspiring.”

    Right now, I just read the chapter called The Big Quiz, put the book down, and went straight to your blog. I guess it’s a little late, but here’s my take.

    I work as a researcher in academia, where I’m surrounded by incredible people every single day. They fucking blow my mind. Then, I go home where I’m sometimes productive or sometimes I just binge watch X Files. The way that I’ve learned to deal is by learning to love what’s in my own heart. Anxiety may cripple me at times, but I’ve never lost my zeal, compassion, creativity, tenacity – I have an unyielding drive to live a loving, meaningful, deliberate life. Every day is a baby step and nurturing that inner person and fuck what that looks like to anybody else.

    My success is knowing that I will ALWAYS passionately pursue the truest version of myself. I measure my success on whether I feel true to my heart and if I pushed my boundaries to boldly let that person shine.

    Jenny, you just go be you because that person is giving so many people strength and a voice. I read your book and I feel stronger in my convictions (and I also wish I could reach through the pages and hug you). There’s so much power in your story and you’re doing exactly what the world needs you to do. You’re pioneering for mental illness. You’re empowering all of us to live our lives intentionally and with fullness (even when we’re hiding). It’s hard for me to even write that without tearing up. You’re helping all of us find our strength and I just can’t thank you enough. Thank you for your courage and vulnerability (which autocorrected to vibratory). You don’t need to be different for any of us, we need you just as you are.

  170. Happy New Year to you, Jenny & your family. Including fur babies & this Tribe! Love & thanks to you. I can NOT draw/doodle worth a darn -BUT in 2016 I Hereby Resolve to leave my house/Birdcage, battle my Anxiety & get out there! When my CFS/Fibro. Gives me a good day…. here’s hoping it is SOON! Debra Disney

  171. Happy New Year to you, too! Your book, your blog and your honesty have guided and inspired me to laugh more, be more open, and most importantly be kinder to myself…. I’m so glad you tried so hard because it sure paid off for so many of us. Wishing you a year that is a little gentler, a little more successful, and a little less scary.

  172. Loved the new book. Recently discovered a word useful for you – neologist = a person who discovers or creates new words. You can add it to your resume. xoxo, me

  173. Happy New Year to you, Jenny, and a Happy New Year to this great and wonderful tribe that I am so thankful to have found. It’s so reassuring to know I am not alone in this world. I’m so, so thankful that you went outside your comfort zone and did the book tour for Furiously Happy. I had the pleasure of listening to you in Portland, and almost cried listening to your words – you really get me! I finally realized that dealing with depression/anxiety on my own was not enough; I finally went to a doctor and got some meds, which are just starting to kick in. I think I can see a shard of light at the end of a very long tunnel, and for that I am grateful.

    PS – I was at the back of the crowd in Powell’s. On my left was a cart of Furiously Happy books for us to buy, and on my right was a regular display of taxidermy books! Did Powell’s do that on purpose, or was it just fate?!?

  175. Congratulations on having such a Furiously Happy year! You inspire me to have one in 2016 and do something worthwhile with my own stories.

  177. Read Furiously Happy not long after backing through the garage door in the new-ish Subaru. Told my husband he now has a blank check to do something batty. Thank you for a great book at the right time. Bonne Annee.

  178. I have to be honest. You’re bringin me down. But….happy new year. I’m glad that you help many.

  179. Dear Jenny,
    Your courage to share your struggles has given me strength.
    Thank you,
    Barbara Wilson

  181. I wish I had the courage to share my story like you. 2 and a half years ago I had a psychotic episode (i was diagnosed with psychotic depression) and now every day I live in fear that someone will find out that i legit went crazy and fear what the ramifications would be for my family and children.

  183. Happy New Year! Reading your writing makes things feel more sweet than bitter, even when those two feelings are all I can muster. Thank you.

  184. Not sure what to say but wanted to say something ..how about ‘thanks for sharing this, it gives me hope.’ 🙂

  185. Thank you for being you and sharing yourself with all of us. Your authenticity (combined with hilarity and poignancy) give us all permission to simply be ourselves. Can’t think of a better gift. Thank you!! Happy New Year!!!

  186. Happy belated new year! Just finished Furiously Happy and it completely helped me through the past couple of days! You did what I didn’t think was possible–you made me laugh when I could barely could get out of bed.

    Seriously, thank you so much!

  187. Happy New Year to you as well! I (finally) was able to get Furiously Happy and read it in 2 days. Loved it! It both made me laugh til I cried, and made me cry with the relief of knowing that I’m not alone in my depression even though it sometimes feels like it. Thank you!

  189. I’m feeling dark this new year. I’m not ready to start fresh yet. I need a little hole to hide in.
    I’m looking forward to reading your book though! I requested it from the library. I’m hold #22 of 40 so I it should be my turn in the next week or two. It’s exciting to know that so many people in my city want to read your book too! The tribe is everywhere.

  190. Happy New Year, Jenny, and thank you for sharing so much of you with us. Congrats on not just surviving 2015, but surpassing and succeeding!! Best wishes for a happy 2016 to all of us.

  191. Jenny, Jenny, Jenny. We don’t like your drawings… we LOVE them. Almost as much as we love you. Happy New Year!

    P.S. Pretty pleeeeeeeeeaaaaaaase can we have a coloring book? And calendars? And shirts? And posters? And, and, and… all the things (but top two are coloring book and calendar).

  192. I think a coloring book is an awesome idea. If only we could have them custom made to our lives. Like I just went to Thailand here is a coloring book of my trip. Its like here is homework to remind you I went somewhere and you didn’t!

  193. Jenny, thank you so much for sharing another beautiful drawing and for everything you did for this community in 2015.

    Wishing you and the rest of the tribe light and love for 2016. May we all be healthy, safe, loved, and furiously happy. <3

  194. I have struggled with depression and anxiety my whole life and when I read Furiously Happy it spoke to me in a way nothing else or no one else has ever been able to. I went right out today and bought the first book and am looking forward to starting to read it tonight. I have given Furiously Happy to my daughter to read. I found a suicide note from when she was 15 in her room. We’ve done counselling and now she’s 19. She has the same off the wall humour and I think she is really going to love the book and I also think it may help her. I’ve always been terrified of losing her because my brother committed suicide at 15. I’ve never been able to get over the fear. I’m actually finding myself tearing up as I’m writing this. Thank you for shining a light in my life.

  196. You’re amazing and really, truly, I love the drawing you created!

    Happy new yizzle! <3

  200. I’ve been laughing my way to work listening to your first book. Your second book is lined up in my audible and I can’t wait to get to it. Thank you for being brave and sharing – you’d definitely be on my list of people I’d love to have a coffee with. Happy New Year!

  201. And the tears are flowing freely. Your insides are just so beautiful. (I know that sounds creepy, and I also know you will understand just what I mean.) Thank you for sharing so much with us & happy new year.

  202. I was walking through the book section of Target one day, and I turned around to see a rather odd raccoon that looked like it was trying to jump off the cover of a book and either hug me or maul me. I laughed out loud and thought, “What the fuck is this about?” So I picked it up and read the summary. I found it interesting, so I opened it to a random page and the first thing I saw was “BUT I DON’T WANT TO BE A GROWN UP! I’M NOT READY FOR THIS YET!” I thought to myself, “I don’t know who this person is or what’s going on here, but they definitely get me.” So I bought it. And I am soooo glad I did. It’s funny how you can feel all alone, and realise that someone else struggles with ADD, anxiety, and depression (Those three always seem to go hand-in-hand. It’s like they’re best friends or something.) like you do, and even though you’ve never met them, you still feel a little less alone. “Furiously Happy” means so much to me now, and I just need to thank you. Thank you for showing me that I’m not the only crazy, goofy person out there. And thank you for inspiring me. If I’m going to be crazy, I’d better be fucking amazing at it!

  203. Please please please sell this drawing you did in your shop! It’s beautiful. Since you posted it I’ve been looking out for it but nothing yet. Thanks 🙂

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