Spilling Open: The Art of Self-Discovery

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 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.

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 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 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.