In Full Bloom: Finding the Grace and Grit to Thrive Wherever You're Planted

by Claire Swinarski

What do you do when you feel stuck and your life takes a detour from your grand plan? Claire Swinarski, founder of The Catholic Feminist podcast, says that even if your life is not where you wanted it to be or you are in a time of transition or discomfort, God has planted you right where you are for a reason. In Full Bloom inspires you to see God’s grace at work and discover for yourself the grit and practical strategies to thrive no matter what life has thrown your way. When your dreams don’t match reality, you have several You can wait for your situation to change. You can leap blindly from change to change until something sticks. Or you can do as Claire Swinarski suggests—thrive. In Full Bloom explores strategies for thriving and experiencing God’s grace even when you’re not exactly living the dream. Searching for a career post-college? Longing for excitement while feeling trapped someplace miserable? Single and dreaming of a family? Enjoying a fantastic job in a great city but grappling with feelings of loneliness? No matter where you are, Swinarski offers a game plan for pinpointing what’s not working in your life, making strategic changes, and developing habits that will sustain you no matter what challenges the future holds. Swinarski blends vulnerability, hard-hitting wake-up calls, and practical wisdom as she shares her own struggles, inspires with stories from The Catholic Feminist podcast community, and offers “soul-care” exercises to help you discover the faith and grit to grow into the life you’ve always hoped for.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality

128 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2020

About the author

Claire Swinarski is the author of multiple books for both kids and adults. Her writing has been featured in The Washington Post, Seventeen, Milwaukee Magazine, and many other publications. She lives in small town Wisconsin with her husband and three kids, where she writes books, wears babies, and wrangles bread dough. You can follow her on Instagram @claireswinarski.

Reviews

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very short, easy read but had some wonderful points. This book reads like a good “get out there and do it” talk from your best friend. One that is encouraging, truthful, and calls you out exactly where you are failing and don’t want to admit it. And just like I need those bestie talks fairly frequently, I would read this again. Claire had me laughing out loud and nodding along and quietly admitting “yes, I could be doing better in such and such an area”.

I love the garden metaphor that Claire used for the book. She says several times she was hesitant to use it because women have often been compared to pretty, delicate flowers and as a Catholic feminist, that’s not the vibe she was going for. And I think she makes her point - gardens are a lot of work, dirty, fruitful, often full of weeds, life giving, weather lots of storms and terribly awful seasons. As a new gardener myself, I’m learning the hidden beauty and work and troubles of a garden.

For those of you concerned about the feminist piece of Claire, I think she does a great job in this book reaching for inclusion of all women, even those who would prefer not to be labeled feminist.

This was the perfect little ferverino for me. Pick it up when you need a pick me up.

[Elise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so appreciate Claire’s heart! This book has lots of practical tidbits to encourage the reader to embrace the present season. Makes me think of St. Teresa of Calcutta’s quote “We have only today, let us begin.” Or whoever said “just do the next right thing.” With the pandemic still raging, so much has been put on hold, it’s easy to feel like all we aspire to do just isn’t meant for this time. Claire does a great job reminding readers that small choices add up and the current season is growing fruit we may just not see yet.

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely and thought-provoking. This book is the friend you want to sit down and encourage you and be gentle with you and also push you all at once.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautifully written book which will help you to 'bloom' wherever you are. Whether you want to change your life completely, or just improve it in small steps, this book will help you. Useful summaries at the ends of the chapters assist you to turn back to this book in times of crisis, or when you start flailing in your goals.
Claire Swinarski provides guidance on finding the spiritual strength to cope with life's difficulties by explaining how she handled a crisis in her own life. She focuses on the power of prayer, the importance of attending Mass and reading the Bible. Evaluating your life, enlisting the power of silence and making plans - all of these will help to get you back to the right track.

This is a lovely book which will help thousands of Catholics around the world.

I received this free ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

[Librarian Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would highly suggest reading this after you've listened to an episode of the Catholic Feminist Podcast. After spending most of 2019 and a lot of 2020 catching up with the podcast, I was able to hear this book in Claire's voice which completely changed the experience.

This book was everything I thought it would be and more. But I won't lie, even knowing Claire's heart behind it, I was a little put off by the flowery cover and the women are like flowers analogy at first. But, if you can make it past that you're going to find a treasure trove of inspiration and conversation in this little book.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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[Karen McG · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Full Bloom is a perfect book for any stage of your Christian walk. Throughout life, we find ourselves in different, sometimes uncomfortable seasons where we wonder how we will grow. This book gives you real talk while also giving end of chapter pointers (called Soul-Care Steps) to help guide you through the growing season. The book makes sure to point you to Christ, and to follow His lead and plan, instead of making this life only about what we want. Definitely a book to pick up whenever you need that push to keep going, no matter how hard it seems to bloom. The surprise recipes at the end are a great plus too!
#infullbloom
#netgalley

[Jeannette · Rating 4 out of 5]

When life isn't exactly how you planned, and you're not sure what to do about it, Claire Swinarski can commiserate. In this book, she not only shares her own experiences in not quite living The Dream, but she shares how we can recognize that these situations could be opportunities from God in disguise. I expected it to be a bit cheesier based on the title, but it was actually a comfort in a time of transition and decision-making for me. I found multiple pieces of advice that stuck in my head and keep coming to me when I'm having an off day. I also enjoyed her "Soul Care" steps and plan to revisit those to help deepen my own faith and ability to "bloom" when I'm feeling stuck.

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent resource for women who are younger than me. There were plenty of great things about the spiritual life but most of them would have been good for me a decade ago.

I appreciated the garden metaphors and now really just want to plant a garden. Soon, when I have my house.

[Ella Brickman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant and much-needed. The cover says “finding the grit and grace to thrive wherever you’re planted,” and this book helps you to do just that. From Claire’s snark and wit to her genuine heart, she shows you she’s got your back and that, with God, you can push out of the ground and thrive.

[Kristina Gutilla · Rating 5 out of 5]

The gardener in me cringed a bit at the shallow gardening metaphors in the book, but it didn't take away from a fantastic message written in an easy-to-read format. I love a book that challenges you to put it into action as you read, and this did just that. Overall very enjoyable.

[Clare · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book spoke to my soul. In a season with so much uncertainty, this book is a ray of sunshine. As always, Claire Swinarski’s words are thought provoking and inspiring in a way that is relevant to daily life.

[Anne Farrington · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book, using the comparison of your faith journey to a garden. It focuses on how to thrive in various situations and how to accept and move with the situation in which you find yourself. We read this for our parish book club and the end of each chapter has some actions to take. It was a good book for easy discussions, though not a lot of new information or meat to it.

[Lina Vargas García · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very thought provoking book. Will re-read it slowly to apply the advice Claire. A good handbook on how to approach spiritual life in each season of our lives.

[Kaetty Morales]

I thought it was going to be about being in the vocation of single life summary way different from what I read.

[Jenny Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

So many good tidbits! And I can’t wait to try the recipes from the back of the book!

[Stephanie Marcinkowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple spirituality for the busy woman.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I typically don’t like garden metaphors but Swinarski is an excellent writer. Her Substack is especially good.