This is a picture of me (the one on the left). No makeup. No filter. No cropping out body parts. It is not the prettiest picture or the most flattering picture, but it is me. And it feels very much like the real me. The happy me. The me that I haven’t felt like in … More Maybe Appearances Aren’t So Deceiving
I have been truly overwhelmed by the number of people who have reached out to me since I started writing this blog saying that they can relate to my battle with depression and that they are happy that someone is talking about it. It is a fairly common diagnosis, yet majority of people who are … More How to Love Someone Who is Battling Depression
About a year ago I started researching how to be happy. The search has become more intense over the past three months. I have read stacks of books, scoured Pinterest, reached out to people who seem genuinely happy and devoured countless articles–including all twenty articles detailing the things that happy/successful/c-level/productive people do each morning. Much to my … More The Search for Happiness
I vividly remember the first time I was diagnosed with depression. I was 21 and spending the summer at Ohio University working as a waitress at a diner and taking summer classes. I wasn’t sure what was wrong with me, but I knew something was off. I had been an overachiever my entire life and … More My Struggle
Often when I scroll through pictures on my social media feed (including my own) I hear the song “Shiny Happy People” by R.E.M. playing in my head. Because, well, they are a bunch of pictures of shiny happy people holding hands (see above). The song is said to be written about a Chinese propaganda poster … More Behind a Name
I’ve been thinking about starting a blog for a couple years, but like most decisions in my life I have to think about it A LOT before I pull the trigger. So after an extensive amount of thinking about it I finally decided to do it, but first I had to break it down into a … More Figuring It Out
My Shiny Happy Life 