Depression and Reading: The Book of Awesome

Ordinarily I am not a fan of self-help books and do not read feel-good, sweet, nostalgic publications. When I heard of The Book of Awesome back in 2010 I didn’t think it was something I would be interested in. I was wrong. This is a delightful book, one that you can pick up, open to any page, read and enjoy. A smile will come, unbidden, and you will think, “That is so true. This is awesome.”

The Book of Awesome is based on Neil Pasricha’s blog in which he wrote a post every day about one awesome thing. His blog has received over 60,000,000 hits and won “Best Blog in the World” two years in a row.

It is sweet.

It is nostalgic.

It is feel-good.

It is all about the little things that happiness is made of. Some of the awesome, everyday things he talks about are:

• Popping bubble wrap.
• Being the first table to be called up for the dinner buffet at a wedding
• Intergenerational dancing.
• Tripping and realizing no one saw you.
• Licking the batter off the beaters of a cake mixer.
• Finally remembering the word that’s been on the tip of your tongue for so long.
• Taking off your shoes on a long car ride.
• Solving the Wheel of Fortune puzzle before the people on the show.
• Someone flashing their high beams at you to warn about the cops.
• Sleeping with one leg under the covers and one out.
• Celebrating your pet’s birthday even though they don’t know what’s going on.
• The first shower you take after not showering for a long time.

Each awesome thing is described in a few words or a few pages that make you say, “I remember that but I’ve never thought of it as being special before.”

Happiness is made up of a thousand awesome things.