Lives We Actually Have book review

So there are things you post online and then there's the life you actually live. What would it take? How would you feel if you showed the life you actually lived? Keep reading to find out what book I'm talking about today. 

Hey, it's Kyla Denanyoh, and today we're talking all about the life you actually live versus what you want to show online. How close are they? How different are they? Are you a liar for not sharing it? Today's book is The Lives We Actually Have. The authors of the book are Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. The genre of the book is nonfiction. The theme of the book is devotionals and affirmations.

So this is not your typical book. So it's not a novel. This is actually a series of short poems. I've never done a review of poetry. Maybe it's my new thing? This isn't a book you pick up and you read cover to cover, and I'm a read cover to cover girl. Even if someone gives me a book and they're like, Read chapter seven, it's incredible. 

But this one was really fantastic because when you're having a rough day, that's when you pick up the lives we actually have, and you just read a passage.  

So let me give you a couple of the sections. There are poems about "bless this lovely day," "bless this grief-stricken day," "bless this ordinary life," for when you're stretching your heart, and "bless this tired life" for when you're running on fumes. And you can just pick out a poem and read. And it's just like, God, I know I've created this business. I know I'm running hard. I know I'm being everything for everybody. But please bless me because I'm tired in a way that only you'll understand. 

 And there was definitely a time in my life, most of them were during law school, where I would literally just pray, God help, period. Complete sentence, God help. And this book reminds me of those times. It's at those times when you're like, I started this business three years ago. I'm working really, really hard. I'm at a plateau. I'm really ready to hit that next level. I just don't know if I can do any more. And you pick it up and you're like, I literally don't have any more words. And you read a passage from this, and you're like, that was what I would have said if I could have said it. Thank you.

This book also helps you be seen because you feel like, "Well, if they wrote those words clearly, they were feeling that way, or they're creative enough to write it down, and you're just like, 'I'm not the only one to have ever felt this emotion. '"  so this book both helps you feel like you've been seen and provides the words when sometimes there just aren't any words. 

I mention my husband moving downstairs because this isn't something I would show online. I don't know how I would tie that into being a podcaster, and how I podcast part-time, and how I do book reviews. Maybe if I reread Marie Kondo and how she talks about sharing spaces. But these aren't the kind of things that I would post. These are things that are honestly happening in my life. So there's a very fine line between sharing too much, sharing relevant things, and just sharing the cute stuff.

I have branding photo shoots, and I have beautiful glossy photo shoots with my family. Therefore, I don't need to post the pictures with my daughter's face covered in ice cream. They're no less real, but it is fun to read about and to have an affirmation for the life you actually have, even if it's not the one that you show online. I hope that makes sense. 

So I definitely enjoy this book. I've told a lot of people about it. In fact, I said to myself that if I read it more than 13 times, I would actually buy it. And I'm gonna have to buy it because it's one of those books that I would absolutely pick up again. For life after loss, when you're feeling survivor's guilt, right? For when you feel forgotten by God, that's another section in here, which I think is absolutely amazing. For learning to love yourself. How many times do people tell you, live a soft life, love yourself, do affirmations? Sometimes you need some help and a little coaching to learn to love yourself. And so this is phenomenal.

If you believe in God, great, pick it up. If you're not quite sure, great, pick it up. If you just need some realistic affirmation, bless this life when I'm tired, and I'm just tired of people talking to me. Those kinds of affirmations are in here. So, a different kind of review to do a review on poetry and affirmations, but very, very exciting because, bless the lives we actually have. 

Until the next book review, Kyla