Book Review: When Less Becomes More

I love a good book! And this book When Less Becomes More is a GOOD book!

Emily Ley is a brilliant author speaking to the depths of a modern woman’s heart. She has a great pulse on what women are experiencing and how the craziness of the world around us is affecting our everyday life.

From the moment I pick up her book or any of her books my heart smiles. The beauty of the book alone is totally worth the buy, even if it’s just for a coffee table book.

In this book, Emily outlines When Less Becomes More through 10 main subjects.

• Rush
• Technology
• Noise
• Social Media
• Rest
• Wellness
• Faith
• Parenting
• Chasing
• Home

For purposes of this fun short book review, I decided I would review some of the main parts that stuck out to me instead of going through each section.

(1) Social Media

One of the first points that resonated with me and I knew was true in my life was that social media was not all-consuming and wasting all my time it was the need to pick up my phone and look at it.

Emily describes how she fasted from Social Media and oddly enough her time on her phone didn’t go down by much, allowing her to realize she was on her phone way more than she thought throughout the day. What she blamed on social media was actually not social media it was her habits. She was reaching for her phone when bored and busy. She says “I was picking up my device, looking for something “live” or “continuously being updated,” and silently asking it to fill my head and heart with something.”

I can completely attest to this. I took a break from social media and all things blogging a couple of months ago and I realized I ended up replacing my time on social media and my blog with browsing on Amazon or Target.

Emily titled this the Dopamine Epidemic. She says “My mind has been trained to be constantly flitting from one thing to the next, and what’s happening in real life right in front of me is a little slower than that right now, so please entertain me”.

It’s so good to know and recognize this reaction to picking up our phone and to be extra aware of it. I now will leave my phone on the opposite side of the room especially if I’m trying to spend time with those I love so deeply. They must know they are enough.

(2) Rest

I need rest, I think to myself as I open the chapter titled Rest.

I often feel like I’m at a go go go pace. I told my sister the other day I wish time would just stop for a moment so I could catch up on “everything” then I could press play and I’d be back on top of “everything”.

And we all know this is just not how the world works and if it did we’d all be in some big trouble.

I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s because we’re always updated and it feels like time is slipping away faster than we can count, or maybe it’s because I’m trying to grow a blog and be the mama of a two-year-old who wants and deserves my attention, or maybe it’s just because I’m not handling my time well but one thing is for certain I need to invite more rest into my life.

Emily gives some really good examples of rest in When Less Becomes More. She tells the story of one of her employees who plants a garden. This story resonates deep in me and has lead me to think about what would give me rest.

And I don’t mean the take a nap type rest, I mean what is something I could do in my daily life that would give me a deeper rest. I know some days it’s taking time to paint or cook with Caroline, sometimes it’s sitting and just talking with John no TV no phones just talking, and some days it’s getting lost in a book.

(3) Chasing

Chasing…reading that word alone I think what am I chasing, what am I after because I know there’s a lot I’m after that I probably just shouldn’t be.

Even writing that out makes me realize I need to take some time to journal about this and make sure my priorities are straight.

Emily asks it perfectly, “But when is enough, enough?”

This type of mental strain, in a modern world that’s constantly telling us we can have and be more, is one of the fastest ways we burn ourselves out. With minds that are overfull, over-connected, and stretched thin, what happens when we add the “wants” on top?

I wish…I want…If only…

-Emily Ley When Less Becomes More

Shes goes on to say

until you’re ready, no one’s words will inspire you to sit in your mess, in whatever you might call mediocre and find true, unabashed goodness.

-Emily Ley When Less Becomes More

This chapter was so good for me to come more deeply face to face with all the things I want. I tend to think if only I had this it would solve this and then everything would be great.

But as Emily reminds us throughout the book it doesn’t have to be great, I mean who even wants great when you can have good just good.

And you know what I agree with her. I want the good. I want a good day being with my family. I want a good moment that is sweet and filled with warmth creating something with Caroline. I want a good conversation and moment with John.

Life doesn’t have to have all the GREATS it might just be better if we live in the good.

So there you have it! My first book review! I truly did love this book. I kept feeling like Emily was putting into words what my heart was screaming.

Go pick up her book or order here! Because after all, this book is just good!

XO,

holley

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