Me vs Brain - Hayley Morris

I can't remember why I started following Hayley Morris on Instagram, but I saw her in my feed and thought she was funny. Then I learned she had written a book and as an overthinker myself, it sounded like it would be right up my alley. And then I thought Jen might enjoy it too so it became a Cover to Cocktails book.

This book of essays is filled with stories about the weird things that go through Hayley's brain and is surprisingly relatable. It was an easy read with more than a few laugh out loud moments and a few emotional moments.

The first chapter introduces us to what Hayley calls her "voiceover." I've never thought of my internal monologue like this before.....or thought that other people might not have this going on in their brains all the time. As she talked about her brain yelling out ridiculous instructions to like "swerve into the middle barrier" while driving, I could relate. I think many of us have had weird thoughts like what if I jumped out the window, or what if that bus jumped the curb and smashed right into me while I'm walking on the sidewalk? The funniest one I remember is from university. I was walking into the law library with my friends and on the table was a paper cutter. One of my friends asked if we had ever thought about sticking our arm into the paper cutter and cutting our arm off.....I hadn't, but after that day I did think about it every time I walked into the library and wondered why the library staff would leave such a dangerous item sitting on a table where anyone could use it to cut their arm off.

There are many chapters in the book where different parts of Hayley's body are discussing, or maybe arguing, about different topics, such as pregnancy, dating, and boyfriends. One chapter sees heart, vagina, and uterus discussing online dating apps and what they should look for in a man. Heart wants love, uterus really wants a baby, and vagina just wants sex. It's a very funny chapter.

I really enjoyed the chapter on entering a room. I can't say how many times I've been worried about going into an event on my own. I worry everyone is staring and me and wondering what I'm doing there when I'm sure in reality, no one really cares.

The chapter on flying was so relatable. Brain panics every time. What time do we have to get to the airport? When should I call the taxi? What if I forgot to pack enough underwear (though I have to say I have never panicked about this quite as much as Hayley does in the book)? What if, what if, what if. It is one of the reasons I don't love travelling.

Not all of the book is laugh out loud funny. There are some serious chapters towards the end that take a look at death and grief and learning to be okay again. It was also nice to see how Hayley got into making videos.

Both Jen and I enjoyed this book a lot! We found so many chapters to be very relatable and had more than a few stories for each other on what weird things our brains have done. Jen even read some of it aloud to her husband to explain to him how her brain works sometimes. I think she is going to convince him to read the whole book at some point....hopefully he gives us his review once he's done.

You should definitely give this book a read and if you haven't seen Hayley on Instagram or You Tube (I don't have Tik Tok....I'm old), watch some of her videos. They are funny too!

Susan - 📘📘📘📘

Until next time, have a drink, read a book, and be happy!