A Life saver .............. - Boy meets depression by Kevin Breel

“Boy meets depression” was a book which saved my life. I finished reading it in 2015/12/04.

It was during my first internship and my personal life was on the edge due to many private and personal issues.

I had depression back in 2011 and 2012 where I crashed in my higher education. It never worked out. Depression is a bitch. It sucks in to your core and eats you like cancer bit by bit.

I got depressed during those years because I wanted to be an accountant but my parents thought otherwise and joined me to a law school. It started small with lack of interest ending by me leaving law school half way through wasting a significant amount of money and time of my parents and myself.

And after that sometimes later in 2013 to 2015, I studied business management and accountancy which reduced my depression but it was not without a toll.

During the inception of the depression I started off with many bad addictions and it kept expanding. It was like a temporary cure for the hidden depression.

The addiction was dangerous and when I realized and started taking precaution it was too late.

Soo I slowly built myself against the addiction during my first internship and depression kept creeping back.

Then I realized I needed some guidance. Soo I googled for a book with precautions for depression.

So this came up. So I read it in a week.

Like Mr. Albert Einstein said “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different result”, which was reversed by this book, because of it's guidance.

I would rate this book "5 stars" because of that.

It’s a life saver.

This is written by Kevin Breel, a 21 year old writer, comedian and an activist for mental health.

His own story of the struggle in the world where there is no room for failure is immensely heartfelt.

His writing style is human and touching. Honest with real life experiences. How he brings out the personal struggles in his personal and academic life is universal for every student.

His love for his father and observations on him is heartfelt.

His “Note to self” in each paragraph is very powerful.

This is the best for me –

"Good advice is hard to find and even harder to accept. Accept it anyway. One day, you’ll wake up and wish you had it done sooner."

His take on his family was closed to me personally.

“They were messy and flawed and divorced from the clichéd sense of suburban perfection everyone else seemed eager to portray.

Sometimes I wondered if all families were like that on the surface, seemingly “normal” (if such a thing exists) and ordered but, behind closed doors, as messy as my own. I thought that would be a fascinating paradox, everyone walking around pretending to be these positive, proper, put-together people but really just as dysfunctional as us.”

His take on the family of his is lovely.

“My mother is a kind woman with warm eyes, a gentle soul, and the ability to listen to you talk about your own bullshit and still be present for hours”

“My father is a beaten, weathered man….. He’s not bad man. Not at all. He’s just not a happy one.”

“He was a painter by profession and a drinker by passion”

Overall the book is an amazing, heartfelt story of life and facing depression. And how imperfection makes it beautiful and every crack of our life a part of it.

References

Books

·         -Breel, K. (2015). Boy Meets Depression: Or Life Sucks and Then You Live. 1^st ed. Canada. Harmony books.

Websites

·         -goodreads.com, (2015). Boy Meets Depression: Or Life Sucks and Then You Live. [Online available at : http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23995294-boy-meets-depression] Accessed date : 2016/11/15

·        - BrainyQuote.com, (2016). Albert Einstein Quotes. [Online available at : http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins133991.html ] Accessed date : 2016/11/15

Images

-Boy Meets Depression: Or Life Sucks and Then You Live, (2015). [Image] Available at : http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23995294-boy-meets-depression

Asia : Reader's Digest - June 2016 - Reading mags... like the good old days....

This blog is about my readings and bookworm life and my personal perspective on these readings.

Today I would like to give a summarized analysis on a magazine I read during the month of June of 2016.

I picked it up at a supermarket during my stay at Colombo to become an accountant and an auditor.


Asia : Reader's Digest - June 2016

This magazine had as usual for a "The Reader's digest" the relevant formula they had for the Asian readers for many years.

But this month contained more on the Social welfare aspect of ordinary people and there life experiences inter twined with it.

Article's like "Kindness and a curry", "Crushed in a crevice", "What will happen to Patty's boy?", "Homeward bound" and "Saving Barle the circus bear" were set of articles reflecting on the social welfare done by people and how they executed in a manner to impact the society.

From major organizations to simple individuals, these set of articles covered the heart and soul the welfare carried to the society once they were executed.

Cover story was more scientific and it reflected upon the future plans of NASA(National Aeronautics and Space Administration) of The United States of America (USA) and earthlings on travelling to the Red planet, Mars. Which reminded me of the epic film last year "The Martian" (2015).

Overall a good read.