Customer Reviews

Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself

5 star:		(52)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I originally bought this book because the author is from our small town. Sabrina was my daughter's small group leader at church and so I gave it to my daughter for her 16th birthday and bought one for my 18 year old niece who was going off to college. Both of them just fell in love with the book Since then I have given it as a gift to other teenage girls. I think it's great for them. Helps to know they share some of the same feelings about adolescence.

This book is not really available in Australia, and too bad for all the Australians missing out. This is the most astonishing, most beautiful book I have ever come across. Having being a journal writer for as long as I can remember, this book was a wake up call on how much I have to learn on the art of creative journal writing. This book is the epitome of creative, it literally spills creativity and reflection from the first page to the last. It is colourful, astonishingly thoughtful and indescribly beautiful. I can see why Sark and Sabrina have befriended each other, it is easy to see that their souls undoubtably dance to the same tune. They are both beautiful and this shines in their glorious books. My only complaint with this book, is that we are often only given sectors of her life, and I am frequently left wondering who she is talking about and what the pictures and the significance of small things she puts in there.

i just got a bad haircut and the first page i flipped to in Sabrina ward Harrison's SPilling Open was about how "mucky" she felt in her new too-short haircut... i was hooked. The enchantment! The beautiful mess that it is! And she is YOUNG! My age, as a matter of fact, but that certainly doesn't limit its charms and emotions to only 20-something gals. Limitless, enlightening, Sark-like yet quite more real in the sense that you feel as if you are reading someone's journal, their most secret fears and wishes. And all in VIBRANT collage form, paint and masking tape, photographs and mascara smears.

I love her honesty, her confusion, her REal-ness. I have been inspired to take up my painting again, to be more sensual and alive.

Please experience this book. IF you are human and tired of media stereotypes of beauty, happiness, etc... BUY IT! Throw out the skinny tight pants and be free. :)

I picked this book up at the store, and sat down to flip through it. Instead, I read the entire book cover to cover. Unlike other self-improvement books, this book does not preach to you while you are feeling fragile. Rather, it allows the reader to look into the mind of an average woman, a woman who is confused and afraid as she discovers herself. This book prompted me to paint and write my feelings, and left me feeling less alone. Because I could peer into Sabrina's mind, I felt as though I truely got to know her. For that reason, would recommend it for anyone looking for not only self-improvement, but anyone looking for a friend.

This book elicited mixed reactions from me. I did enjoy Harrison's art: collage-y, somewhat messy and imperfect, it came across as very casual, which made it seem like she was not trying too hard to get someone else's approval (publisher, reader, what have you) and had really done it for herself. The deep colors and photography are pleasant to look at (though there is a picky point: all the pictures of Harrison herself look like they're trying to be spontaneous and yet end up looking calculated, like someone who has seen a photo of herself that she really liked and ever after always tries to hit that mark whenever a camera is nearby.)

The text I found less inspiring. I know this is from her journals (or at least purports to be), so some of the text and topics were bound to be somewhat angsty, but I kept hoping she'd break beyond them. I suppose that is the point and the process of journaling, but when she kept focusing on how fat her thighs are, it lost me after a while.

Also, her spelling is really not great, which makes me twitch. Even if this is a journal, it's also a published piece of writing.

Harrison is friends with SARK, an author with a shelf of upbeat self help-y books, and if you're familiar with SARK's writing it is easy to see in Harrison's book in some places where she is basically parroting her friend's words ("What is 'it'?" etc).

It's nice to see something creative in print coming from a younger writer/artist, though Sabrina still needs to hone her skills somewhat, in my opinion.

Sabrina so thoughtfully combines her words, her art, her knowledge and the knowledge of others to show us a picture of her life. A great book to pick up time and time again, a new window opens each time.

I opened this book and found myself...I could relate to everything listed, from the strong friendship bonds to the muckiness feelings to the exasperation of waiting for him to call, and then feeling horrible for "editing feelings"...I am also 23 and never have I found a book that so realistically contains the everyday thoughts my friends and I go through...the challenges that come along with growing into yourself, and the constant reminders that through everything, the world is full of inspirations. Sabrina's moods swing from low-self-esteem days to feeling brave and youthful. And through everything, she notices the small things that are really important in life, as well as the importance of her faith.Thank you for this book, Sabrina! You are truly a kindred spirit.

I was given a copy of this book when I was twenty and it honestly changed my life. It made me realize that I wasn't alone in the thoughts, doubts, fears, and "aches of inadequacy" that I was going through. This book is an open heart spilled onto the page/canvas and any young woman going through life with any amount of uncertainty and lonliness will benefit tremendously from just being with this book.

Sabrina Ward Harrison writes with intention, inspiring one to think and feel more deeply. Her work is creative, artistic, spiritual and intelligent. She writes-creates with a thoughtful balance. The only challenge is, at times, being able to read what she has written as it is overlaid on photography and collage.

This is one of those rare books that comes along and makes you think about your own life. I laughed, cried, and smiled all in the same breath. Reading Sabrina's words is like reading your own mind. She has the courage (and knowledge) to say what we all feel at times. I keep this book with me and when I have had a "mucky" day pick it up to remind myself that I am okay as I am. A truly beautiful work.