A Memoir of Living Better with High-Functioning Anxiety
Jonathan Bailor
Forthcoming from Post Hill Press.
“Daddy, why does your face look scared of breakfast?”
Jonathan Bailor could perform at meetings, zero his inbox, and cook everything for everyone. His wife bought him a “super dad” sweatshirt. His six-year-old could still see that he was scared.
He had spent a decade at Microsoft and written a New York Times bestseller. He is named as an inventor on twenty-eight issued U.S. patents. He also took conference calls from the bathroom floor. When Angela brought up having children, he made a nine-slide PowerPoint called “Why We Shouldn’t Have Children.” With animations.
They have three daughters.
I’m Fine and a Mess is what happened when he began admitting he needed help. Therapy. Medication. A marriage with two people in it. Learning that his daughters had seen him check the stove, but had never seen him stop.
The chapters are short. Some are funny. Some take place on the bathroom floor. The anxiety does not disappear, but more of his life becomes possible.
For the person who keeps saying “I’m fine,” and the person who knows better.