the only way to learn is to live.

i'm reading The Midnight Library for the 6th time and if i influence you to do ANYTHING, let it be to read this book.

May 01, 2025

happy you’re here.

hello hello my sunshine angel babies!!! and welcome back to yet another edition of happy you’re here, i’m your host! sophia! a 22 year old who feels everything very deeply, who finds that the best way she expresses her emotions is through writing, who has no clue what she’s doing but has learned to love the unknown. i’m learning, growing, creating (and sharing!!) through it all!

before we get into it todays essay, make sure you’re subscribed so you get new editions sent right to your email every sunday and wednesday at 5:13pm PST!

it is easy to mourn the lives we aren’t living.

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig genuinely changed my life. i read it for the first time just over 3 years ago and now make it a priority to re-read it minimum once a year. everyone i know in my life that reads, i urge them to read this book and they fall just as in love with it as i am.

if i convince you to do anything, if there is NOTHING you take away from my writing except this, i would be ok. read this book, then message me your thoughts (sophiaecarter on IG).

what is it about???

i am so glad you asked

this is how goodreads explains it: between life and death there is a library. When Nora Seed finds herself in the Midnight Library, she has a chance to make things right. Up until now, her life has been full of misery and regret. She feels she has let everyone down, including herself. But things are about to change. The books in the Midnight Library enable Nora to live as if she has done things differently. With the help of an old friend, she can now undo every one of her regrets as she tries to work out her perfect life. But things aren’t always what she imagined they’d be, and soon her choices place the library and herself in extreme danger. Before time runs out, she must answer the ultimate question: what is the best way to live??

how i explain it: (TW su*cidal thoughts and actions) the author has definitely had some personal issues with mental health based off how he writes about them, it is done in a way that makes you feel seen. i personally got attached to this book because of the phase of life i was in when i first read it. if you have ever struggled with the “what if’s” of life, struggled with depression or something greater, this book grabs you by the soul and speaks to you. its a fiction read but i can be the first to admit that it definitely has some self-help undertones. it follows a girl in her thirties who has not had an easy go at life, drowning in grief, it has trapped her to her hometown. living in a dreary, lonely flat, convinced no one needs her, she decides to take her own life, but in-between life and death there is a library. The Midnight Library. and she is presented with the opportunity to undo any of her regrets, and enter a parallel universe of her life where she made different decisions. this story is intertwined with beautiful reminders of autonomy, mental health, regret, and lessons you can carry with you for the rest of your life. i highly recommend this read for anyone in their late teens / twenties!!!

maybe the prison was not the place, but the perspective.

i won’t go too in-depth about this book because i want you to read and experience it for the first time yourself. but!! here are some of my favorite quotes that i have collected over my 6 reads

it starts with a quote from Sylvia Plath aka one of my all time favorite writers “I can never be all the people I want and live all the lives I want. I can never train myself in all the skills I want. And why do I want? I want to live and feel all the shades, tones, and variations of mental and physical experience possible in my life.”

life can sometimes give you an entirely new perspective, if you stick around long enough to see it
death is the opposite of possibility
you can choose choices, but not outcomes.
you cannot predict what will make you happy
you can have everything and feel nothing
the paradox of volcanoes was that they were symbols of destruction but also life.
that’s the beauty, isn’t it? you just never know how it ends.
(also every header in this essay is a quote from the book)
and my favorite tiny detail in this book is that it ends with 5 blank pages, signifying (to me at least) that your story is not over yet. you can continue writing and rewriting your life.

never underestimate the big importance of small things.

this is a shorter edition from me but it had to be shared. this book is bigger than me. whenever i feel in an in-between phase of life, if i’m feeling stuck or overwhelmed by the future, i read it. it has become a comfort in the chaos of life

so here is your reminder that the small things in your life have the power to make a big difference. if you want to make change, start within yourself.

remember that while although the world is happening you, you are also happening to the world.

you can be anything you want, but you cannot be everything. my favorite representation of this is “The Fig Tree” poem in The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

i love it so much i am currently planning on getting a fig branch tattooed on my arm. my tattoos hold so much meaning and purpose to me and i have wanted one that ties together The Midnight Library and Sylvia Plath, and this analogy feels perfect.

(if you want a post dedicated to my 23 tattoos and their meanings, let me know!!!!)

happy you're here.

Discussion about this post