Part self-help book, part adult colouring & activity book; this lovely offering will appeal to those who love to doodle & scribble, and anyone who enjoys ‘Wreck this Journal’-style books.
Essentially a self-love & self-worth workbook, “Find Your Awesome” takes the idea of a 30 day challenge and turns it into a book. Taking the realisation that whilst we have no problem telling those around us how awesome they are; we find it difficult to extend the same courtesy to ourselves; self-confessed artist, writer, doodler, and love warrior Judy Clement Wall challenges us to

“Fall in Love with Your Playful, Imaginative & Colourful Self”

through a set of daily challenges designed to encourage you to do just that.

Judy’s writing style is Awesome, she has you nodding along and giggling at the many witticisms she shares. Nevermind being a self-love guru; it seems like she’s the kinda person that would do your soul good just by knowing her! Someone you’d love to hug, hang out with, drink tea and eat copious amounts of cheecake with; regularly.

The book is a fun read, at times touching, and actually quite eyeopening – through sharing her own story of opening herself up to embracing her own Awesome badassery she gives us the impetus to proclaim our own.

In case you haven’t worked it out yet; I LOVE THIS BOOK!! I must admit, I never really ‘got‘ the whole Adult Colouring thing, I understand why people enjoy it; it just never clicked with ME. But, this? This I can embrace. I’m obsessed with daily/monthly challenges but sometimes get bored if they are the same thing repeated (a month worth of photoprompts is fine, once you’re into your 3rd month, it gets a bit ‘mehhh’) The clever thing here is that the style of challenge differs from day to day; some days you doodle, some days you write, others you send a text; it keeps it varied and interesting.

Fancy a sneak peek at some of the challenges? I’m happy to oblige:

-Doodle your perfect t-shirt
-Text love
-Writing yourself a love letter
-Appreciate your body in all its awesomeness
-Make time for you by writing a Not-To-Do List
-What’s your Personal Manifesto?

Another idea suggested throughout the book is choosing your favourite challenge(s) and turning them into month, or even year, -long challenges in their own right; similar to the author’s own Year of Loving Fearlessly challenge.

Now, obviously, you can work through the book on your own, but I was excited to discover that Judy is running a free online group, starting May 15th, where you can sign up now and then complete the challenge alongside [as she puts it herself] “a posse of like-minded love-warriors”. I have, of course, signed up; and now I’m off to buy a physical copy to play with.



Rating
I award this book 5 out of 5 stars. I found it Awesome!

Nice book, humorous sometimes and a light reading.

Find Your Awesome: A 30-Day Challenge to Fall in Love with Your Playful, Imaginative & Colorful Self, to give the book its full title, is a guide to self love. No, not that kind, dirty girl. The author offers us a 30 day course of different activities to encourage us to be kinder to ourselves and to give ourselves the same slack we often give others without thinking about it.

What I loved about this book: Judy uses fun and creative activities which I adored. Drawing mandelas to encourage mindfulness, designing T-shirts – I had such fun with these activities. The book is populated with the author’s own quirky and fun artwork. I loved the day for spreading the love and I’ll certainly take that activity further.

What I liked about this book: We ALL need to be reminded to be less self-critical and judgemental and Judy offers a fun and lighthearted way of doing just that.

What I didn’t like about this book: if you are already suffering from mental illness or distress, I think this could exacerbate things. This isn’t a book for those who are suffering and looking for a way to feel less self-hate. If you are a happy introvert, going around hugging strangers will make you feel dreadful. I personally found the bucket list exercise depressing as it reminded me of all the things I can’t do now because of my illness. I decided to focus on the positives but days later I’m still flashing back to the list the old me might have made. There is also a cultural thing for me. All this self love and bigging oneself up isn’t terribly British. Perhaps there is a case for us emulating our American cousins more when it comes to self esteem, but I find it personally uncomfortable.

In conclusion, if you’re already in a reasonably ‘good place’ and want to make things even better, this little book could be just what you need. However, if you are looking for a quick fix to real depression and self-esteem issues, I’d steer clear.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in return for an honest review.

Janet Conner, author of Writing Down Your Soul, wrote in her journal out of desperation; she needed a miracle:

“Dear God, you know I need ten thousand dollars for the attorney. I don’t know how you’re going to do it, but I know you’re going to send ten thousand dollars. Thank you right here and right now for your gift of ten thousand dollars.”

Two days later her mother called:

“…we’ve given money to all the other children but we’ve never given any to you. So, dear, we’re sending you ten thousand dollars.”

I tried this approach for manifesting in my journal practice and asked for clothes.

That day, my neighbor gifted me clothes that she didn’t need and haven´t used in a while and fit me perfectly! I was sold to journaling.

I don’t doubt about all the therapeutic benefits of journaling as I have benefited myself, but this aha! moments make it memorable and made me stick to this helpful technique; it wasn’t always the case at first.



“The first modern psychologist to embrace journaling as a therapeutic device was Carl Jung…According to his theories, the further the split between the everyday conscious mind and hidden unconscious the less we were able to respond and adapt to life.” Michael Kaminsky

The split could mean you feel STUCK and journaling is a great tool to get you out of the mud.

Journaling is a powerful tool for self-discovery, healing, manifesting, etc. Moreover, the mix of art and journaling enhances its benefits, and some professionals use art journaling in their practices.

Nowadays, journaling and art work together as a technique to heal trauma, anxiety, PTSD or stress reduction among others, and if you are into heavy, difficult times look for professional help.

On a lighter note, I had this wishful thinking about drawing, so Find Your Awesome caught my attention as I always wished to improve my art skills. Moreover, the 30-Day Challenge was a perfect way to mix art and journaling; two of my favorite topics.

Doubts? Is it limited to artists?

I can draw stick figures to save my life, a tree, a house, and a flower, nothing beyond that yet. And Judy Clement answered this question on her website:

“I didn’t start drawing until I was well into my 40s, so my obsessive behavior is really just making up for lost time. As a kid I wrote, I read a lot of books, I wrote some more. It never occurred to me to draw. Then one day (disappointed that, despite my creative writing degree and all the words I’d written, I was not quite the literary sensation I’d ardently imagined myself becoming), I started drawing. (I was trying to distract myself. Little did I know…)

And now she is an illustrator. Not bad!

Also checking the prompts in the book, it includes several artistic endeavors like doodles, or a self-portrait, but Judy Clement explained “Don’t worry, this isn’t an artistic thing (necessarily), it’s more of a “what do you want to capture about you and your life right now” thing.” Even though, Find Your Awesome incorporates some artistic activities most of the challenges involved writing about self-love topics, and Judy does the drawing.

I don’t think this mix of art and journaling will replace my journaling morning routine, but it would be useful to my artist dates activities.

What’s an artist date?

“Is a block of time, perhaps to hours weekly, especially set aside and committed to nurturing your creative consciousness, your inner artist.” Julia Cameron

And no need to be an artist to go into this artist dates that spring creativity, we are all creators.

Find Your Awesome involves some artistic activities, but it will be as artistic as you want it to be, the main idea is about healing the “hidden unconscious”, an inner journey to self-love to love others as much as you love yourself.

Judy Clement will start a challenge this May 15Th. If you have the book and are interested you can subscribe to her mailing list here. I already signed up.

Fits a specific audience (3 stars)

I love a good self-help book and I love guided journaling projects so Find Your Awesome sounded right up my alley. For those looking to take on a 30-Day journaling challenge this has a really good format. The ideas are indeed playful and imaginative.

What held me back from giving this a higher rating was feeling like it was geared toward a young female audience. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I'm just older and didn't connect well to it or feel like I could recommend it to any of the men and boys I know who might enjoy a similar concept.

A fun, quirky book that challenges you to let go off your stresses, to take life less seriously and feel uplifted through 'play', love, creativity and imagination. In doing so, you will be rewarded by finding your awesome.

An inspiring little book that appealed to my inner child. Loved, loved loved the illustrations......but buy the book and not the Kindle version.

I chose to read this NetGalley ARC for which I have given a voluntary and unbiased review.

The only terrible thing about this book was that I got an ebook version and not a paper copy in which I could contribute my cool doodles as the author suggested. (As far as I know you cannot doodle in the Kindle app.) If you are thinking of purchasing this then most definitely get a paper copy and some coloring pencils to go along with it. :) I enjoyed the illustrations and inspiration which filled this book.

I would like to thank the NetGalley for a copy of this book.

This book would make a great gift for someone you love or for yourself. It is a journal meant to be written, doodled, and colored in. The daily ideas range from silly to serious and all will help to lift your mood.

I thought this was a lovely book and would make a great present for those who enjoy mindfulness as it helps you fall in love with yourself and would help prepare you for meditation. Some of the ideas I found a bit weird but I loved the artwork. I read it as an ebook but this is really a book you need in print to fully appreciate and interact with.
I was given this book by Netgalley and the publisher. This is my voluntary review.

A no-fluff action guide to get in touch with your biggest fan and greatest life inspiration--you! Adorable illustrations and prompts make this a fun experiment in pushing yourself to greater heights through love and encouragement!

I will update with my blog review once I hear back from the Author or Publisher about the cover art. Thank you.

I loved this book so much I couldn't put it down. It is full of fun, quirkiness and inspiration. The wonderful illustrations made all the difference to the words. They brought it all to life in a fun imaginative way. This is a book for keeping on your desk and dipping into a lot. !! It really makes you want to squeeze the juice out of life. I will definitely be taking up the challenges and doodling my way through my own story. Thank you - brilliant !!