I read a lot of books, and enjoy most of them. It’s not very often that a book changes me and alters the way I see the world, but Emily Ley’s début, Grace, Not Perfection: Embracing Simplicity, Celebrating Joy has done just that.
I started following Emily Ley on Instagram a few years ago, right after her twins were born. She designed a kit for Project Life, and I was inspired by her adorable family and colourful feed. Fast forward to last year when Instagram started using Stories, and I got to know her better and realized that she was the genius behind The Simplified Planner (I don’t have one, but it’s always on list when I try to decide what planner to get every year — I will definitely be picking one up for 2018). Last fall she released her first book (her second comes out later this year), and I was looking forward to a quick read and learning more about her career as a designer. While I did get some of that, I got a lot more too.
Grace, Not Perfection is a self-help book geared towards women (mostly mothers) and focuses on the idea of giving yourself grace and not striving for the impossible perfection that we think is expected of us. As a woman of faith, Ley takes the idea of grace from God’s grace. She puts a lot of emphasis on family, and the realization that having a perfect balance between being a wife, mother and entrepreneur doesn’t exist. Though I am not a mother, I do struggle with figuring out how to grow this blog as well as give enough attention to my nephew who I watch every weekday, finding time to build my relationship with my husband and do the things that make me better at all of those roles (like working out and taking time to unwind with a good book). Once I figured out that my effort with this blog didn’t have to be all or nothing, I felt a huge weight come off my shoulders. I still struggle with motivation sometimes, but I’ve come to terms with the fact that at this season in my life I can’t be a 5-6 days a week full-time blogger every week, and that’s okay.
Emily Ley is honest and vulnerable, willing to share her struggles with infertility, growing her business from the ground up and the times when her body forced her to slow her life down. I would highly recommend every mother read this (especially her chapter on “mommy guilt”) and feel that as a woman without kids it’s completely applicable to my life as well.
What books have inspired you to change your life or your perspective?
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