How do you rate a memoir or biography? Is it even fair to rate one? These are the questions that keeps me awake at night.
I rated this memoir. I liked it, but not as much as I thought.
It was a 4-star for me. Read more about my rating system here.
There’s nothing particularly wrong with it. It reads more like a collection of thoughts and feelings, but I suppose that’s the nature of dealing with depression and anxiety. I should know.
I LOVED the lists, and although I didn’t relate to most of it, everyone experiences anxiety and depression differently. I think this book will help a lot of people. I certainly took away some great tidbits.
I love that Matt shares a list, such as ‘How to Live (Forty Pieces of Advice I Feel to Be Helpful but Don’t Always Follow)’—because we all do this. We create lists and ideas, yet 90% of the time, we don’t follow them (hint, hint).
One thing that particularly stood out for me was –
‘Don’t believe in good or bad, or winning of losing, or victory and defeat, or up and down. At your lowest and at your highest, whether you are happy or despairing or calm or angry, there is a kernel of you that stays the same. That is the you that matter.’
How profound!
One other thing from this list that I also loved is –
‘Read a book without thinking about finishing it. Just read it. Enjoy every word, sentence, and paragraph. Don’t wish for it to end, or for it to never end’
I am most definitely changing my reading style after that.
He provides practical and meaningful examples of how to support someone with depression or anxiety. I love this. I don’t always know how to express it, and he put it into words for me.
I didn’t read this as a self-help book. I read it as Matt’s thoughts, feelings, and tips—that’s how it felt. His raw experience is what I treasure.
He wrote down ‘Things That Make Me Worse’—some of which I can relate to. He then follows with ‘Things That (Sometimes) Make Me Better’. The word ‘sometimes’ is so important because not everything works all the time, and that’s something we need to understand. Today, my cup of coffee might fix everything (sorry for the pressure, buddy), but tomorrow, it might not help at all.
It was a quick read. It was a very easy read Some parts resonated with me, while others didn’t.
If you have depression or anxiety, or know someone who does—whether it’s a friend or loved one—I highly recommend reading this. It’s worth it.
I’m going to sit down now and make my own two lists. I think it will be a good exercise.
E xx
The Travellingmind 