Bittersweet
March of 2011, I left for a life-changing study abroad trip to Greece. There were a total of seven girls in my apartment and we decided to pull names to determine who we were going to room with. I was beyond blessed to room with a girl who actually went to the same college as me, but I hadn’t known. I could, and will write an entire post(s) dedicated to everything I have learned, recommend, and pictures of living in Greece but friends… this lovely girl, Mace introduced me to a book that has changed my life.
Ladies! If there is one book that I talk about non-stop, re-read over and over again, and that has gotten me through some very low times, it would be this one. This author, this book, this gem.
“The idea of bittersweet is changing the way I live, unraveling and re-weaving the way I understand life. Bittersweet is the idea that in all things there is both something broken and something beautiful, that there is a moment of lightness on even the darkest of nights, a shadow of hope in every heartbreak, and that rejoicing is no less rich even when it contains a splinter of sadness. ‘It’s the practice of believing that we really do need both the bitter and the sweet, and that a life of nothing but sweetness rots both your teeth and your soul. Bitter is what makes us strong, what forces us to push through, what helps us earn the lines on our faces and the calluses on our hands. Sweet is nice enough, but bittersweet is beautiful, nuanced, full of depth and complexity. Bittersweet is courageous, gutsy, audacious, earthy.”
It’s one of those books that just got me, and I can guarantee as a woman, it will “get” you on at least one level. If God decides to bless us with children one day, more specifically a girl, I will be introducing this book to her early on. Shauna Niequist is a brilliant author who reached my heart and soul through thoughts of change, grace, and learning the hard way. She is an inspiration to all women with her vulnerability and honesty, not to mention her wonderful recipes. I have already gifted this book to multiple women of all ages and different stages of life. Go buy this book today for yourself and a friend. Read it. Get coffee. Talk about it. You will not be disappointed.
Buy it here.
What are some of your go-to books?