NonF Matt Haig's "Reasons to Stay Alive"

Matt Haig is a journalist, writer of Y/A novels and novels. His novels are magical, whimsical and profoundly life affirming, In Haig's autobiographical book REASONS to STAY ALIVE, he candidly talks about the debilitating depression he's suffered. Furthermore, he offers pragmatic suggestions that helped him cope through his dark abyss of despair, how he staves depression's downward gravitational pull and reasons to be grateful he's found in simple and astonishing moments. Haig muses, "I think life always provides reasons to not die, if we listen hard enough. Those reasons can stem from the past-the people who raised us, maybe, or friends or lovers-or from the future possibilities we would be switching off." Perhaps, the single most sagacious contemplation for not committing suicide "is this option isn't flexible." Everyone's experiences are unique, yet knowing there are others stricken with the malady of malaise and "knowing that other things work for other people" combats the pain and provides rays of comfort.  Honest, heartwarming and hopeful best describes "Reasons to Stay Alive." It's never tricky and never strikes the tone of a self-help book. It reads like an intimate conversation that is redeeming without being self-righteous or off-putting.  Rather, it's sobering. He confides an omnipresent crevice that one has to be leary, lest you fall. Haig is most helpful when noting tools he's called upon. Furthermore, he shares his joys and wonder with what he would've missed out on had he given into his desire, not to stop living per se but to end an overbearing anguish and withdraw from misery. Haig's description of his depression is enlightening.  "You don't feel fully inside yourself. You feel like you are controlling your body from somewhere else. It is like the distance between a writer and their fictional, semi-autobiographical narrator. The center that is you has gone. It is a feeling between the mind and the body, once again proving to the sufferer that to separate the two as crudely as we do is wrong, and simplistic. And, maybe even part of the problem." Haig reasons those in the throes of depression "clam up and don't speak about it, which is a shame, as speaking about it helps. Words spoken or written are what connects us to the world, and so speaking about to people, and writing about this stuff, helps connect us to each other, and to our true selves."  Here are a few sage pieces of advice he's listed. "Shower before noon. Be kind. Look at trees. If someone loves you, let them. Don't worry about the time you lose to despair. The time you will have afterward has just doubled its value. If the sun is shining and you can be outside, be outside."  My advice is to read Matt Haig novels and his memoir, "Reasons to Stay Alive".