When I first came across Camilla Gibb’s memoir, This Is Happy, I had been struggling for nearly a year to finish any book I picked up, and my mental health had deteriorated to the point where I was forced to drop out of school and quit writing entirely. Despite everything going on in my life, I managed to read This Is Happy to the very end. It was the reason I showed up to work on less than two hours of sleep the next day, which ultimately resulted in me spilling very hot coffee all over myself.
This Is Happy instantly became one of my favourite books—it was relatable, honest, and evocative. It made me laugh and cry, sometimes at the same time. I still struggled to write creatively for many months after that point, but one passage in particular continued to resonate with me until I was ready to begin again:
“We come to know ourselves only through stories. We listen to the stories of others, we inherit the stories of those who came before, and we make sense of our own experiences by constructing a narrative that holds them, and holds us, together. Stories are how we make sense of our lives.”
I return to This Is Happy whenever I am having a particularly bad day, and it is a book that I recommend to everyone.
— Selena Mercuri is a student at the University of Toronto. She was the recipient of the 2023 Norma Epstein Award, and she placed third in the 2024 Hart House Literary Contest. Selena is currently writing a novel set in both Canada and Cuba.
You can read Selena Mercuri' story in Issue 300 Summer Fiction 2024. Order the issue now:
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