Review: One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth

One Day My Soul Just Opened Up: 40 Days and 40 Nights Toward Spiritual Strength and Personal Growth by Iyanla Vanzant
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm sorry to say this was not what I expected. I thought it would be an inspiring read about the author's spiritual transformation, but instead it was part anecdotes, part workbook. The themes were pretty standard in terms of spirituality books, but they're accompanied by stories of the author's own enlightenment born from her own experiences.

I tried to fill in the journal parts at first, but in the end it was too slow a process. I'd like to go back and give it a go some time, but at this stage I just wanted to read a book so it was a nuisance having to read through those parts.

Some of the themes I really appreciated, but others had me rolling my eyes. Same with the anecdotes - some I was really fascinated by, while some had me wondering if they'd actually been made up! I mean, this woman has clearly had an incredibly tumultuous life. And I'm so glad she was able to write her story and express the journey towards her enlightenment but at times I just didn't care. Other times it just felt like the same message was just being said a ton of different ways so it was painfully repetitive.

I don't want this to seem like I'm slamming the book. I think when it comes to spiritual/self-help text you're always going to pick out just the things you need. I think the themes that affected me the most are the ones I need to work on. This will be different for every person and I believe that the reader's stage of spiritual development is going to play a huge role in how well this book is received. I'd probably recommend it to people who are just beginning their spiritial journey, because there is actually a lot to relate to.

I try to keep an open mind when spiritual stuff refers to God, but the overuse in this book left me feeling a little alienated. I don't believe in God, and the powers I believe in are far less present than Vanzant's God. By the end of it, I was kind of tired of being told to trust God and leave everything in his hands. I'm a strong, independent woman, thank you very much, and I believe the spirit of the world observes and influences but that's about it. I like to think I have a little say in who I am and what I'm capable of.

I'd advise readers to take this slow, and work on themes that feel relevent at the time. Skip anything that seems silly, and maybe come back to it when your soul is a little more open.

While it was a bit of a disappointment to me, I can see how this book will benefit others, and I hope I can go back to it one day with a little more understanding and openness. Full props to the author for her honesty, though. What a remarkably strong woman.

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