Her Fearful Symmetry

Her Fearful Symmetry is one crazy book. I’m not even going to try to describe it for you, because that would just ruin it. It’s just spooky, wild, beautiful, true, dark, and thought-provoking. If you’ve got some time or are looking for a good travel, vacation, or spring break book, this is a great one you won’t want to put down. But in all honesty, it was a bit overkill for a school week (especially when you don’t start until Thursday). Thus, the late and short post, but I’m sure you forgive me :)

This book made me think a lot about secrets and truths. I can’t really go into too much detail about the book or about my own life, but it really made me realize the importance of honesty. I think it’s pretty easy to get wrapped up in our own thoughts and emotions that we feel like we can’t talk about the things that bother/frighten/scare us. Maybe this isn’t true for everyone, but I often feel like society’s telling me that I need to put on my game face and head out into the world this bubbly, cheery person with no cares in the world. But in reality, we’ve all got stuff going on underneath the surface that we’re not letting on about. I’ll be there first to admit that I get my thoughts, worries, and emotions all bottled up and don’t talk about them until they seem to explode. And I bet I’m not the only one. 

I’m going to try to be more open and honest with people. Whether I’m frustrated or sad, giddy or gleeful, I’m going to try to talk about it. In the book, a lot of problems could have been avoided or solved if people bothered to share what they were feeling. Yes, I know it’s fiction, but fiction has a way of getting at those things we all know deep down to be true. And this honesty, this openness, this need to speak and have our fears and desires heard and acknowledged, is something that I know to be true.

Next week I’ll be reading An Altar in the World by Barbara Brown Taylor, which teaches all about spiritual disciplines in a really holistic way, with chapters on waking up with God, paying attention, getting lost and more. I started reading it for a class about a month back, but only got a few chapters in. So I’m going to go back to the beginning and read a few chapters a day as my daily time with God, because I just feel like I need that this week.