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Blooming: Finding Gifts in the Shit of Life
Are you a little too comfortable with self-loathing? Tired of feeling like you are not enough? This book is for you.
Carrington Smith spent a lifetime trying to be someone else—to fit in, to be loved, to keep the peace, and to make others happy. Until finally, Carrington discovered that her own path to happiness wasn't based on fitting in but on standing out—celebrating her uniqueness and owning her past.
Candid and raw, Blooming takes you on a treasure hunt to discover the gifts in the shit. Shit is quite literally fertilizer. It is in the messes, failures, trauma, and difficulties of life that we discover what we need to bloom into our greatness.
From trauma to triumph, through the depths of sexual assault, religious mind-fuckery, family rejection, body dysmorphia, mid-life metamorphosis, physical scarring, and death into happiness, forgiveness, empathy, purpose, belonging, and joy, Blooming is a poignant, powerful account of finding your way through the shit.
Carrington Smith spent a lifetime trying to be someone else—to fit in, to be loved, to keep the peace, and to make others happy. Until finally, Carrington discovered that her own path to happiness wasn't based on fitting in but on standing out—celebrating her uniqueness and owning her past.
Candid and raw, Blooming takes you on a treasure hunt to discover the gifts in the shit. Shit is quite literally fertilizer. It is in the messes, failures, trauma, and difficulties of life that we discover what we need to bloom into our greatness.
From trauma to triumph, through the depths of sexual assault, religious mind-fuckery, family rejection, body dysmorphia, mid-life metamorphosis, physical scarring, and death into happiness, forgiveness, empathy, purpose, belonging, and joy, Blooming is a poignant, powerful account of finding your way through the shit.
209 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 16, 2021
2 people are currently reading
494 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
March 16, 2022
The author really went through a lot of shit, but it was inspiring how she kept going and pushed through all the hardship. One crazy story follows another, which had me glued to the pages of the book. At some points I felt like it was a little too much of "look how bad I had it" from the author, but then she made up for it by explaining how she overcame or worked through certain things and what she was able to learn from it.
February 14, 2022
This is a book about the shit of life. I don’t like to swear but there is no better way to explain it. The author has gone through all forms of such things. The summary shows just what she has gone through so if you didn’t read it, scroll back up.
She shows that your life doesn’t have to be going well to find the good in it. It’s one thing if someone says that in a book but their life has been pretty average or even above average. When Carrington tells you this, you believe it. You can tell she means it by her tone and words. You can tell it even more so because she has gone through so much and yet she has found meaning in her life.
The book includes book group questions incase you want to read and discuss the book with your book group. I think this would make a great book group book.
If you need to see the good in your life when things are not going well, this would be a good book to pick up.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for honest review.
She shows that your life doesn’t have to be going well to find the good in it. It’s one thing if someone says that in a book but their life has been pretty average or even above average. When Carrington tells you this, you believe it. You can tell she means it by her tone and words. You can tell it even more so because she has gone through so much and yet she has found meaning in her life.
The book includes book group questions incase you want to read and discuss the book with your book group. I think this would make a great book group book.
If you need to see the good in your life when things are not going well, this would be a good book to pick up.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for honest review.
January 17, 2022
***I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway***
Memoirs are a tricky genre to navigate. Since we are all the heroes of our own stories, we tend to think those stories are worth writing even when they're not. I've been burned more than a few times by promising memoirs that just...*yawn*
Carrington Smith is a pretty rich girl (well, woman...she's a grown up but the book covers many points of her life) and it's often easy to brush off memoirs by pretty rich girls as being out of touch for the rest of us. Their problems, and even worse their solutions to those problems, may not be relatable. I read a book once where the woman recommended taking a Caribbean vacation when you're sad. *eye rolls forever*
Blooming is NOT that kind of book, I'm happy to report. Some of the experiences that the author went through would take anyone down. Some are truly traumatic, some are the more casual meanness that we all experience but struggle to process. I commend Carrington Smith for putting it all out there for the world to see, so we can know we aren't alone in the pain we feel at any given moment. Her optimism bleeds through every page and sometimes it feels a bit over the top, but I get it. I get where she's coming from and I appreciate it.
Three stars because I felt like the book never really pulled it all together as a philosophy.
Memoirs are a tricky genre to navigate. Since we are all the heroes of our own stories, we tend to think those stories are worth writing even when they're not. I've been burned more than a few times by promising memoirs that just...*yawn*
Carrington Smith is a pretty rich girl (well, woman...she's a grown up but the book covers many points of her life) and it's often easy to brush off memoirs by pretty rich girls as being out of touch for the rest of us. Their problems, and even worse their solutions to those problems, may not be relatable. I read a book once where the woman recommended taking a Caribbean vacation when you're sad. *eye rolls forever*
Blooming is NOT that kind of book, I'm happy to report. Some of the experiences that the author went through would take anyone down. Some are truly traumatic, some are the more casual meanness that we all experience but struggle to process. I commend Carrington Smith for putting it all out there for the world to see, so we can know we aren't alone in the pain we feel at any given moment. Her optimism bleeds through every page and sometimes it feels a bit over the top, but I get it. I get where she's coming from and I appreciate it.
Three stars because I felt like the book never really pulled it all together as a philosophy.
January 17, 2022
I thought I was getting a self-help type book. Instead I got a memoir that was half harrowing and half self-congratulatory. I commend Carrington for overcoming various traumas and obstacles, but some acknowledgment of her privilege as a white, straight, wealthy woman would have been nice.
November 30, 2021
This is a wonderful book that shows how bad experiences help us become stronger, smarter and ultimately, happier. There were some things that triggered my anxiety, but overall reading it was very valuable. Carrington Smith talks about a lot of things that she endured as a child and young woman and in doing so , she sheds light on the good that comes from bad experiences. Even if the bad experience only teaches you one little thing, then it was worthwhile. The main theme is to never give up, believe in yourself, and love yourself. I also found the book to be motivational. I absolutely loved it and I believe anyone that reads it will be positively effected.
June 5, 2022
I couldn‘t stop reading the first part of the book.
However she grew up in a world (the beautiful and rich) most people are not a part of.
For example the emphasis on status, money, beauty. A world where a „mummy make over“ is normal.
I could not relate to that at all.
However she grew up in a world (the beautiful and rich) most people are not a part of.
For example the emphasis on status, money, beauty. A world where a „mummy make over“ is normal.
I could not relate to that at all.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 23, 2021
A memoir filled with kindness and hope springing from a life that didn't have a lot of either at times. Carrington Smith gives the reader plenty to think about in terms of cultivating gratitude. Check out an interview with the author at https://www.convoexnihilo.com/episode...
December 2, 2021
Interesting read
November 3, 2021
Carrington Smith' is a survivor. And because she's a survivor, she has decided to tell her story, though it's not an easy one to read. Born into a dysfunctional family with a father who can only be described as evil, a mother who put her husband's needs above herself and her children, and a maternal grandmother who treated Smith with disdain and ridicule, it's hard to imagine anyone coming out of this environment as a self-assured adult.
Yet Smith has come out a better person despite the traumas she's gone through. While her stories give rise to her resilience, I found many of them hard to read due to the brutal actions of her father. While reading these stories was difficult, I can't imagine what it was like to live through them. These stories (though disjointed at times) provide the theme (and hence the title) of this book. Out of adversity comes strength. It wasn't an easy path for Smith, but she has made it her point to 'bloom' from all the trauma that she has endured in life.
Smith's strong intuitive nature came out of a life peppered with adversity. And she is to be admired for it.
I want to thank #NetGalley and Lioncrest Publishing for providing me with an electronic ARC of #Blooming in exchange for my review.
Yet Smith has come out a better person despite the traumas she's gone through. While her stories give rise to her resilience, I found many of them hard to read due to the brutal actions of her father. While reading these stories was difficult, I can't imagine what it was like to live through them. These stories (though disjointed at times) provide the theme (and hence the title) of this book. Out of adversity comes strength. It wasn't an easy path for Smith, but she has made it her point to 'bloom' from all the trauma that she has endured in life.
Smith's strong intuitive nature came out of a life peppered with adversity. And she is to be admired for it.
I want to thank #NetGalley and Lioncrest Publishing for providing me with an electronic ARC of #Blooming in exchange for my review.
October 30, 2021
This book at times was hard to read, but I couldn't put it down. The things she has been through, the things she survived, and the strength she found within herself will keep you reading. She didn't give up, she learned from each and everything that she had to face. She went to law school, passed the bar and became a lawyer. She tried many fields until she found the one that was what she knew was meant for her to do.
This is her journey and everything she went through. With all that she had been through, I cried when she wanted to give up when her friends, wanted her to change into whom they believed she should be. But there was strength deep inside that she found, and she picked up the phone and did what she had to do for herself. As the description says, Carrie discovered that her own path to happiness wasn’t based on fitting in but on standing out—celebrating her uniqueness and owning her past. There is a lot of good advice in the book, so much strength, and the willingness to share her story.
I received an ARC from Lioncrest Publishing through NetGalley.
This is her journey and everything she went through. With all that she had been through, I cried when she wanted to give up when her friends, wanted her to change into whom they believed she should be. But there was strength deep inside that she found, and she picked up the phone and did what she had to do for herself. As the description says, Carrie discovered that her own path to happiness wasn’t based on fitting in but on standing out—celebrating her uniqueness and owning her past. There is a lot of good advice in the book, so much strength, and the willingness to share her story.
I received an ARC from Lioncrest Publishing through NetGalley.
November 4, 2021
Thank you #Netgalley for the advanced copy!
This was a quick read as I quickly became obsessed with learning more about Carrington and how her life would play out. There were so many instances, especially with regards to her parents and childhood, that I could not believe were real, that she had to endure. Her parents had multiple children, yet they favored only two and excluded the other. In fact, the extended family, aka grandmother, would do the same. This poor child had a hard upbringing, a traumatic rape in college, two divorces and so much more. She is a survivor, not a victim. She has tried her best to surround herself with positive people in her adult life and is no longer afraid of cutting people out. This had difficult content at times, but I really enjoyed and would recommend to others.
This was a quick read as I quickly became obsessed with learning more about Carrington and how her life would play out. There were so many instances, especially with regards to her parents and childhood, that I could not believe were real, that she had to endure. Her parents had multiple children, yet they favored only two and excluded the other. In fact, the extended family, aka grandmother, would do the same. This poor child had a hard upbringing, a traumatic rape in college, two divorces and so much more. She is a survivor, not a victim. She has tried her best to surround herself with positive people in her adult life and is no longer afraid of cutting people out. This had difficult content at times, but I really enjoyed and would recommend to others.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews