Goodbye, Again audiobook

uh, am i allowed to say that i like this book

While reading this book, I felt like Jonny Sun was speaking both directly to and from my soul, and with every page I thought, "Wow, he gets it." Yes, while many of these essays are short, they are so deeply impactful. In Goodbye, Again, Sun touches on his experiences with anxiety, depression, and surviving with the mindset that productivity equals value in a world where taking a break from the grind feels like failure. This is the book for the people that want to matter, make a difference and leave a mark, but at the same time don't feel like they've achieved enough to deserve it. Jonny's love of plants comes into metaphor often, revealing there's a lot we can learn from them-- growing takes time, rest is a necessity, and sometimes things truly just are the way that they are. Goodbye, Again is without a doubt a book worth revisiting again and again-- Simply and wonderfully healing, a blooming treasure.

“When my plants grow, it feels like they are teaching me to experience my own happiness in slow motion, not over the course of a few seconds, a few moments, but over the course of weeks, months. And when my plants die, when they start to dry out, or wilt, or rot at the root, they die slowly, too. Even in sadness, I have come to appreciate that there is something peaceful about how slowly that panic and hopelessness and frustration and guilt unfurls, every morning and every night, over and over again, and how slowly the plant teaches me to feel it, to accept it, until one day it cannot teach me anything, anymore.” Like a very generous, steaming mug of camomile tea – this was such a chill/feel-good read. It’s hard to review a collection of essays that are so personal to the writer. I feel like creative non-fiction can only go either way of the rating spectrum. One can either like the writing a lot or think it’s a completely waste of time. I read the book and listened to the audiobook at the same time – which made for such a brilliant experience. I enjoyed the illustrations very much as well. And as a plant parent (albeit a rather half-arsed one), I love, love, love the plant references and of the way Sun had talked/wrote about plants in his life. Surely, this is the most ‘soothing’ audiobook I’ve ever listened to. “Is it not enough to see someone once a year when we live in different cities and one of us is passing through the other’s? Or get coffee once a year with a friend who lives in the same city when we are both overwhelmed and underwater with the rest of our lives? I’m not sure what friendship is but sometimes I worry, shouldn’t it be more than this? Are friends supposed to be people I see often in person?” Other than the parts of the book where Sun talked/wrote about plant, I also like the endearing egg stories/recipes (I want to learn how to make tea eggs; it feels like such a therapeutic activity); and also the bit where Sun went on nostalgically about MSN messenger. It reminded me of before ‘Tinder’ existed, ICQ was the shit. Like Sun, I wish that we could still save text messages into a txt file like before. ‘Modern’ forms of texting/communication just feel so disposable and replaceable almost. I still handwrite letters, and I hope I’ll never ever stop. And I hope that the people I exchange letters with never get tired of it too. After all, it really does take more than one to keep it going. “This is nice, except that what follows this closeness of staying with friends is the inevitable act of leaving them, leaving their home, leaving their city, as one must after they are done visiting. And I will leave them the same way they leave their home every day, this being the last feeling of closeness I feel to them for a little while, because then we won’t speak to each other for months, sometimes even years, knowing that we are always one message away from each other but the ease of that connection means we can talk at any time, and so we put it off, and we put it off, and we put it off.” This was a much shorter read than I’d expected, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Listened to it and read it all in one go. I think that this would’ve been such a perfect book/audiobook to bring on a long-haul train journey. It’s only about 3-hours long. But somehow – I feel like it took away some of my stale, sticky feelings of anxiety that I just didn’t feel like dealing with (and was just allowing it to linger like a gross stain). It’s basically Xanax in the form of a book, but without any sort of side effects. “I used to think that plants were static, pointless things. But once I started bringing them into my home and started taking care of them, watering them the way they like, giving them the right soil, placing them in the right light, I began to notice that they would move… I started seeing them slowly will new leaves into existence and will old leaves out of existence.”

One of the most thoughtful, calm & relatable books I’ve ever read. It’s one of those books that lifts up the veil on our current insecure “if we’re not productive, we’re lazy” self-punishing, always-on, always-hustling realities and shifts the focus back to the truth of the matter which is that: You’re only human. We’re not perfect and that’s okay. We need to spend more time and care more about that which we love, whether it be our plants, our friends or our families.This is a wonder of a book. So many metaphors. Jonny Sun highlights that there is so much to be learned about life if you slow down and take a look around you at all the things that you are blessed to have. Also, he’s a plant god, killing and saving plants, bringing plant lives back from the brink of expiry. Inspiring.I loved it. Highly recommend.

Screw good or bad.For me, personally, this is an all-timer and one of the most meaningful reading experiences I've had in years. There are like 50 sentences that say things about me that I've never been able to articulate, even to myself.I'm shook.Will be revisiting many times over the years, and I have TONS of new writing prompts and projects for class from Jonny's craft.

It feels rude to rate this any less than five stars. A collection of honest essays on living through the pandemic, toxic work culture, and being able to navigate a world that constantly pressures us to be something “more.”Really appreciated the essay that ranks and goes through the hypothetical last 15 minutes of your life before the end of the world.I will also attempt to cook many forms of eggs thanks to Jonny’s detailed instructions. Last but not least, I am here for all of the plant content!

*Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for this book in exchange for an honest review.Jonny Sun is a delight and this book is delightful. Through what I can only describe as musings, Sun describes the world in his careful and descriptive way– filtering from quick snippets of interactions with friends and advice from loved ones to stories of his family through recipes and restaurants to taking care of various plants throughout his life and the lessons those plants have taught him. In addition, and what, perhaps, makes this book easier to connect with, is his invitation to how his mind works, anxiety included. I listened to the audiobook and it is narrated by Sun. I plan to buy the physical copy to see the illustrations, but highly recommend the audiobook! Although some sections made my heart speed up as I felt my anxiety get triggered, Sun’s voice is incredibly soothing and it’s nice to hear his thoughts in his voice.

I like some essays more than others but that’s expected. But the best ones are like soft explosions that pierce your heart. Flowers blooming in time lapse. Small satisfied wiggles.

Look, I'm not a workaholic. I definitely don't consider myself an achiever in the conventional ways acknowledged by society. My brand of anxiety is different from Jonny Sun's. The mere idea of taking care of a plant makes me want to run away screaming. Because of those reasons, I wondered if I'd be able to relate to the experiences he shared in this book. I'll tell you now that in many ways, I felt seen. I got through all the sad parts because I was learning things about myself and gaining insights from a different perspective. It's like I got +10000 wisdom and mindfulness points after reading this, which is awesome. Thank you, Jonny Sun.

There were so many thought-provoking moments in this short book. It was highly enjoyable and also very comforting in a way, because the tone overall is positive and hopeful even when Sun is speaking about some rather grim subjects. The book covers many different topics that are personal to the author, from struggles with mental health to loneliness to houseplants, and so much more. I listened to the audiobook version and highly recommend it, though I am curious about the illustrations I missed out on. 4.5 stars.

This book’s only flaw is that it had to end!!! I loved every second of reading this book and it made me Feel Things and it was so beautiful and special and I’ve never read a book like this before and it was perfect. I usually fold the bottom corner of pages that are my favorite when I read and for this book I think I probably bookmarked like, a third of the pages, seriously this was so special.

Sept. 2022: I love this book with my whole heart. I mean, this is the third time I read it THIS year! It always speaks to me in a way that is incredibly funny (in a kind of dark way), wholesome, and beautiful. All the emotions of moving away, changing, and growing are things that people constantly experience in their life, but I felt these things more prominently this year than in other years. So, this book comforted me. It reminded me of the people I love, the places I love, and the version of myself I loved too. But, it also gave me hope that I can grow into myself in a new place, and that those old things aren't forgotten, just may mean something different. -Plants are already there, too -> "But sometimes I see that same type of tree in different cities, in different countries. It makes me feel at peace. It reminds me that I once found a home where that tree grew, and so if that same tree can grow somewhere else, perhaps so can I" (170).-On remembering through others -> "From time to time, you will hear their voice in someone else's words. This is how they tell you, 'I was part of the world and the world is still here'" (168).-Removing (a different line) -> "But of course any act of leaving creates that hole. Every act of moving is also an act of removing, leaving an empty space where what moved is no longer there. It's just, the problem with leaving is that you're never able to stick around to see what you've left behind" (158).-----------------------------------------------------May 2022: This one spoke to me so strongly as I was leaving high school and was saying goodbye to my favorite teachers and friends, and perhaps myself as well. -On Mourning -> "Mourning does not only apply to death. You are allowed to mourn change, as well. You can mourn an old home that is gone, or a world around you that has shifted so imperceptibly until one day it no longer feels familiar anymore. You can mourn your own changes, too. That you are no longer the person you used to be is, in my opinion, a good reason for mourning. It may be a cause for celebration, sometimes, too. But you can always give who you once were a send-off, a memorial, before you move on from them" (161).-----------------------------------------------------March 2022: My heart may be on the verge of collapse, sadness, and resolve. It was such a beautiful and reflective collection of writings and illustrations. It’s just what I needed right now. I loved all the essays but these three were my favorite.-On Attention —> “a conversation is a gift of somebody’s time and attention. The person you’re talking with decided in that moment that you are more important than everything else they have going on, and they chose you—and you chose them—to spend some amount of time with” (134). -On Proof —> “In person, too, conversations felt so intangible. They disappear after they happen so they leave nothing behind to show for them. We have our memories of them, but I was always left with this fear that I had remembered a conversation with someone so differently than the other person had” (141).-Removing —> all of it resonated. “People will go on with their lives. That place you were a part of, that you are now just some visitor to, will continue operating in your absence, will continue picking up more visitors, will continue to continue. It must” (157).

Favorite pieces:-On peace-Is it living or is it alive?"I am trying to catch myself more whenever I think about work as something that's alive. When work is 'pressuring' someone, or 'growing,' or 'needs attention,' what does that mean? I am all for giving life to inanimate objects, but to anthropomorphize work feels different, more dangerous to me. I think that maybe I imbue or I have learned to imbue work with this idea of life because I need to work to survive. And if I have to work instead of live, the work itself might as well live, since I apparently cannot" (40).-"Go slow"-Farm game"Many of my friends have fantasies of quitting their jobs and owning an actual, real-life, physical farm--which is to say that most of my friends are city people, who don't know anything about actual farms. If the fantasy isn't a farm, it's a flower shop, or a garden, or a greenhouse, or, in one case, an arboretum (a fancy name for 'tree museum'). So many of my friends are fixated on something to do with nature, involving something that grows, or more accurately, something that *they* can grow, based on the belief that it will be relaxing, and straightforward, and linear, and predictable. I find it curious that these dreams aren't about simply living in and among nature, but they are dreams in which nature is the project we work on. We cannot seem to escape the desire to feel productive with our time. I'm not sure if that's by choice or by trauma, that this pressure to produce has been so engrained in us that our deepest fantasies are still tied to some idea of working on something" (78).-Wave fact-Playlist for a funeral-Your last 15 minutes before the end of the world, ranked from worst to best ^probably my favorite"2. Minute one: Reaching a state of calm and accepting that all you've done with your time on earth is enough, because it must be enough, because it is all that will ever be" (202)."Goodbye, again""Every goodbye after our first should remind us that we've done this before.Instead of Goodbye, I'd like to start saying Goodbye, again.See you later cannot be promised, but Goodbye, again reminds us that we've done this before.And after the last time, at least, we both came back" (208).

There is a comfort in this, in realizing that someone else at some point in time had really cared about the same thing that you do right now, even if that someone is a thousand miles away, working on another book, receiving emails, cooking scrambled eggs, and growing new plants, totally oblivious of the fact that because of him, someone felt heard, understood, more familiar and less lonely. It's because of him someone enjoyed reflecting and examining life, hoping that one day, it will grow him into something new, something changed, just like the cactus and pothos. Just like peperomia "the hope plant".🌿