First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A new story about anxiety

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This journey is what I do now. I bump along, in fits and starts, on a perpetual path to finding better ways for me and my mate, Anxiety, to get around. It's everything I do. In this book, Sarah suggests that perhaps anxiety is not something to be gotten rid of or destroyed, but rather something which acts as a personal compass or traffic-light system warning us when we’re acting in a way unaligned with our values. She suggests that if we pay attention and listen to its pleas, our anxiety may be the very thing which brings us closer to finding meaning and fulfilment and in our lives. Other than the ethical problems above I enjoyed some of the reading. She mentions some techniques and ways of thinking that are really helpful. Again, a resource list would have been wonderful for people who want to know more about it. What I didn't enjoy was her writing style and inserting random stories about herself or 'some friend' who did this or that. It felt disjointed and again, more memoir-like than really wanting to assist people with their anxiety or telling 'a new story'. For me it was frustrating to read and took away from the points she did make very well. I was very honest about detailing self-harm,” Wilson says. “Nobody talks about the really ugly stuff.”

First, We Make the Beast Beautiful: A New Story About Anxiety

I have read many many books on related subjects the last ten years, and I find most have a tiresome "do these 10 simple things and your anxiety will be gone!!! :D :D :D" tone. That tone pisses me off. Nothing is easy with anxiety; nothing is straightforward or simple. I was worried this book would be more of that. The name dropping was so frustrating. Oprah, Brene Brown, Gabrielle Bernstein etc get to have their names in the book, but then she refers to "some guy" who uses the analogy of walking on custard. His name is Neil Hughes, he has a lovely TED talk and he wrote a book called "Walking on Custard and the meaning of life: a Guide for Anxious Humans". Surely she could have included that? I highly recommend you listen to the audiobook of this, or book for that matter, its extremely interesting, facinating, entertaining and it kept me captivated for hours. Read by the author herself. Duration time 9 hrs 7 mins.This is the author’s honest and vibrant account of her struggle with anxiety and what she has done to cope or manage it throughout her life. I consider it part-memoir and part self-help book. This book isn't for everybody, but it was 100% for me. It seems people didn't like the meandering structure or the conversational style, which is a-ok, obviously. You do you. But I wanted to write a review because I found the book SO beautiful and helpful, and I was sceptical before buying it, so I wanted to speak directly to my fellow sceptics. I applaud her bravery and honesty as some aspects of the book are very hard to read. Evisceratingly honest, one might say. Some of her ideas, and approaches and themes about anxiety's manifestations and how to manage and even live with it are excellent and I think will be (largely) helpful to many readers. First, We Make the Beast Beautiful is a book with a big heart, paving the way for richer, kinder and wiser conversations about anxiety. It reads like a mishmash of teenage diary, pseudo pop science, random thoughts about stuff and life, snippets of quotes from key thinkers on the topic and modern day confessional. If this grabs you then go for it.

first, we make the beast beautiful - Pan Macmillan AU first, we make the beast beautiful - Pan Macmillan AU

In first, we make the beast beautiful, Sarah directs her intense focus and fierce investigatory skills onto this lifetime companion of hers, looking at the triggers and treatments, the fashions and fads. She reads widely and interviews fellow sufferers, mental health experts, philosophers, and even the Dalai Lama, processing all she learns through the prism her own experiences. In her new book, she directs her intense focus and fierce investigatory skills onto this lifetime companion of hers, looking at the triggers and treatments, the fashions and fads. She reads widely and interviews fellow sufferers, mental health experts, philosophers, and even the Dalai Lama, processing all she learns through the prism her own experiences. Since the book was published at the end of February, Wilson has been swamped with people writing to her about their own issues with anxiety, or the anxiety of loved ones.Practical and poetic, wise and funny, this is a small book with a big heart. It will encourage the myriad sufferers of the world's most common mental illness to feel not just better about their condition, but delighted by the possibilities it offers for a richer, fuller life. It took almost two years to write this book. During this time I flitted between nine countries and moved house seven times. Anxiety spirals delayed the process regularly.