Title: Girl, Wash Your Face
Author: Rachel Hollis
Publication: Nelson Books
Price: Rs 499
Pages: 220
I have a habit to note down as many inspirational quotes as possible that I come across on any given day. By now, it is my fifth diary since I started jotting them down. As I grabbed this book Girl, wash your face by Rachel Hollis, it reminded me of a quote I had penned down a couple of weeks back under the same name. It read: ‘Not having the knowledge just makes you teachable, Not Stupid!’
True to her belief and approach towards looking at things in life, Girl, wash your face is a sincere effort by Hollis to teach all of us, including herself not about anything exterior but our own true self within. I personally treat this book as a conversation between me and Hollis and not the usual writer-reader bond. Simplicity in expressing some of the most primary yet deliberately ignored facets of life makes it a memorable learning experience.
Every single chapter filled with personal experiences shared without an iota of shame or personal regret makes it honest literature and every girl or woman shall somewhere find and identify herself in 20 lies as per the author that one holds against and about oneself.
Moreover, what do you do once you have identified or understood that lie? You destroy it. Hollis helps us exactly do the same through her shared experiences, also letting all of us know about things that helped her in destroying these lies for the last time. As one of the most sought-after motivational speakers in the world, Hollis through every chapter conveys her deep understanding about pain and shame one faces while undergoing hardships in life.
No wonder, through her writings she clearly sends a message across that your life is supposed to be a journey from one unique place to another, it is not supposed to be a merry-go-round that brings you back to the same spot repeatedly. A caterpillar is awesome, but if the caterpillar stopped there — if it just decided that good is good enough — we would all miss upon the beautiful creature it would become.
In our day-to-day life, we tend to shift paces because we find the surrounding not conducive to our existence, even if it is at the job front or where we reside. The author strongly advocates through this book that getting away does not really change the person you are. It only changes the view outside your window. According to Hollis, you must choose to be happy, grateful and fulfilled. Regardless of place and situation, you will be happy, if you make that choice every single day,
As I read the very last sentence of the book, after having read so many honest confessions about lies the author had about herself. One could only feel that a true leader speaks the truth, even to her own detriment. Rachel Hollis has done just the same.
