But I'm getting ahead of myself...
When we announced our adoption plans to our wider group of family and friends, I got a few messages from folks recommending books, offering stories, and so many congratulations! It was really nice to know that everyone was ready to embrace this new adventure with so much enthusiasm.
I also got this message from Brittany, a friend who I've known since high school:
to which I replied:
Totally clueless but knowing that Brittany would never lead me astray, I searched Rachel Hollis out on Facebook to see what #chictribe was all about. Turns out that Rachel Hollis is self-made media mogul who runs The Chic Site (a lifestyle blog), Chic Media, has her own podcast, is a successful author of both fiction and non-fiction books, and is a wife and a mother of four children. One of these children, her only girl, is adopted. So, I followed her Facebook and added her new non-fiction book to my "to read" pile on Goodreads.
Fast forward to when I started The Adoption Journal a month later. I started planning out books I wanted to talk about on the site. I revisited my Goodreads list, and saw Rachel Hollis' book Girl, Wash Your Face: Stop Believing the Lies about Who You Are So You Can Become Who You Were Meant to Be there. Since I've been so incredibly busy, I opted for the author-narrated audio book version, and I'm so glad I did!
Rachel is extremely likable right off the bat. She's encouraging, she's open, she's honest, and, what always appeals to me, she's funny. In fact, a couple hours in, Rachel was reminding me so much of my best friend Ashley, that I texted Ashley to tell her that she would love this book too.
Among all the pithy advice and humorous often embarrassing stories are some truly unjoyful moments in her life. She talks about traumatic topics including her childhood, the suicide of a close family member, recurring bell's palsy and vertigo, relationships, pregnancy, motherhood, and her adoption journey. But Rachel embraces these parts of her life, knowing that they have each shaped her into the person she is today.
I don't want to tell her adoption story here because it is her adoption story, and I couldn't do it justice with a précis (my dorky English major side is showing again). She alludes to the story throughout the book, but she does dedicate an entire chapter to what all went down that I think many of us in the adoption world can relate to or empathize with. I will tell you that it wasn't an easy path for her family. But it has a happy ending, because after everything that she goes through, she finally adopts her little girl Noah.
Rachel affirmed many of my own beliefs about how only we can decide if we will be happy, successful, and healthy. No product you buy nor Pinterest-perfect life will truly fulfill you; that happiness has to come from inside. We are the heroes in our own lives. She also taught me some important new things, including keeping our promises to ourselves. Keeping a promise to yourself means you won't make idle promises, and you will achieve your goals if you can make and keep attainable promises. Instead of "I will run a marathon," start with "I will run a mile a couple of times a week." And those little goals can get bigger as you achieve the smaller ones.
She stresses lifting other women up, refraining from judgement, and not comparing ourselves to others, but rather striving to be the best version of ourselves. She addresses the lies we believe about ourselves, and how to overcome them in an uplifting and positive way that will resonate with women of all walks. Even though she comes from a Christian perspective, this isn't a book for just Christians (I'm non-religious myself), and good advice is good advice. You don't have to believe the whole dogma to appreciate her wisdom.
So, Rachel, I'm very pleased to give you a solid 5 stars on Goodreads.
You can check out some of Rachel's adoption related posts here.
Want your own copy of Girl, Wash Your Face? Or want to share it with everyone you know like I do? Here's how to get your own:
