Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter

Grief is the Thing with Feathers is a new novel about a family wrestling with grief:

The poetry of this piece of prose demands a poetic response:

Gut-wrenching.

Challenging immediacy; chaotic raw pain.

Need for comfort; need to comfort; need to/forced to grow (up).

Immersive voice, language, rhythm gets in your head, gets in your speech.

Visceral; discomfort; pushing: vastness.

Supports: coping together, coping separately.

Feeling. GRIEF. ANGER. VIOLENCE. PAIN. Expressed through the body; expressed through the words in this book. 

Unlike any other novel or memoir on grief this text tells you nothing.  But it shows you everything.  The pain and anger and violence and chaos of grief is not told, but shown to you and felt by you.  

I have never felt less alone in my grief.  I hope it helps you feel the same. 

Help Lending Your Self a Hand

 

I was having an off day and trying to stop beating myself up.  A friend kindly reminded me that it is "normal" to be tired on the weekend sometimes, and not do all the projects and chores you wanted to do.  I am a person.  You are a person.  It is ok.  So to make my new found person-ness stick in my brain I drew the above on my hand.

Someone can tell me to "be my own best friend" until said person is blue in the face, and it still will not sink in.  But this works sometimes:

• Stop.
• Come to a Full Stop.
• Imagine your best friend.
• He/she is very upset, maybe even crying.
• You ask your best friend to tell you what is wrong.
• You hear your best friend say all these horrible things about his/her self (insert what you are currently thinking about your self here).
• Now imagine what YOU would say to your BEST friend who shared all this with you.

Depression: A Primer by Ellen

This is a great little illustrated book that goes over the depression basics.  So whether you've been recently diagnosed or you want to understand what a loved one is going through, this book is great. She not only covers what depression is like but hits on the different kinds of depression and different kinds of treatments.  A fantastic quick read.