This Beautiful Mess

Let Go of Perfection, Embrace Your Mess and Find Beauty in Your Story

By: Shelly Bartholomew

Narrated by: Shelly Bartholomew

Where can you find beauty in your story?

Life is full of mishaps, reroutes, and disasters; they punctuate best-laid plans at every turn. But maybe the messiness of life isn’t something to shy away from but something to embrace. In This Beautiful Mess, wife, mom, and former Miss Teen USA, Shelly Bartholomew, lets you into her mess and teaches you how to embrace the unpretty parts of your story so you can transform your perspective and learn how to reject the expectations of perfection.

This book is not for those living their Plan A. It’s for those who have taken a few falls and been redirected. It’s for those who want to see the twists and turns of their story in a new light. In the chaos of comparison, restlessness, and battling messages that say we are simultaneously too much and not enough, This Beautiful Mess teaches us that God can make anything beautiful, so you can confidently own your beautiful mess.

©2021 Shelly Bartholomew (P)2021 Shelly Bartholomew

Only Partially Relatable But Great Title!

My response is probably overly personal and others may respond differently. There's some humor and good content within this book, yet I feel it didn't go quite deep enough for my own self-help tastes. For example, I was quite curious about the poor advice in counseling to excommunicate from family for 10 years. It was mentioned but not expanded on later. I would have found this interesting - why this approach proved to be unhelpful, as the author indicated they should have gotten a second or third opinion and so much precious time was lost.

It's hard to bare our souls and write such a book, so while it personally didn't fully connect with my own experiences as a woman, Christian and growth approach from trauma, the writer should equally be proud of what she has accomplished in this.

I was indeed very attracted to the title when I came across it.