BOOK REVIEW: TINY BEAUTIFUL THINGS
I’ve savored some excellent books lately. Most of what I read falls in the self-help/personal development lane. I LOVE a good story about falling down and getting back up again so I delight in those books the most. I was looking to mix things up a bit when I selected Tiny Beautiful Things by Cheryl Strayed. This memoir that is part advice column, part self-help, and part short story didn’t disappoint.
Checkout my thoughts on this enthralling, mixed bag of goodness.
Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar is a collection of advice column Q&A letters from Cheryl’s very popular, no longer existent advice column, Dear Sugar. Think Dear Abby with more soul, harder lessons, and larger doses of truth.
In each letter, the advice seeker, bares their soul with hopes that on the other side of their vulnerability will be someone with advice that offers some measure of hope and direction on how to move forward. Cheryl delivers every time. Every response inspires reflection, bravery, action, and strength. Offering the perfect mix of bold honesty and compassion.
In one response, Strayed shares “trusting yourself means living out what you already know to be true. It means reaching hard in the direction of the life you want.”
Cheryl has this way of cutting through the noise, diving straight to the heart of the issue and pouring salve right where it belongs. She also does a great job at identifying with their suffering by exposing her own. Sharing all the ways she’s been lost and the many times she got found again.
I listened to this through my audible subscription which made it even more enjoyable. Narrated by Cheryl herself, each line was delivered with heart and conviction, leaving you immediately intrigued and committed to its cause.
While I’m singing its praises, I must be fair and issue this warning, this book maybe triggering and/or offensive for some. It contains foul language, detailed accounts of sexual assault, drug abuse, alcoholism, miscarriages, etc. The things people tend to only talk to strangers about. Cheryl’s no therapist, no minister or anyone one else that society deems qualified to help people sort through their stuff. There’s no reason for her audience to trust her but they do. It’s part of what makes this uniquely intimate exchange between strangers beautiful.
FAV QUOTES + ONE LINERS
I love quotes. Especially good ones. You know the ones that cut through the confusion and pain of life, delivering you to a place of knowing and peace in just a few lines. Few of my favorites from Tiny Beautiful Things:
“You can’t fake the core. Whatever is there will always win.”
“The questions you ask, the decisions you contemplate are your becoming.”
“It is impossible for you to go on as you were before, so you must go on as you never have.”
“Transformation often demands that we separate our emotional responses from our rational minds.”
Be honest, don’t those make you want to go get this book? It only took a few chapters for me to fall in love; it’s raw and hard. I liked that the most. Well because, can’t life be hard? We have all experienced some measure of tragedy that we sometimes need help sorting when trying to pull ourselves out of the dark. I found myself needing to hear Cheryl’s advice even when I couldn’t find myself in the letter.
This book reminds that life can be complicated, messy, unfair and full of tragedy. Despite this, we all have a certain duty to ourselves. A responsibility to manage our hard stuff in such a way that propels us forward, so we don’t stand still for too long. A more whole, authentic version of you is worth fighting for. So fight and then keep fighting some more.
What have you read lately that left you inspired? Let us know in the comments. If you pick this up, reach out and let us know what you think.
Happy Reading!