was a fantastic book and spoke directly to me in so many ways, I highly recommend reading this and purchasing a copy so you can refer back to it like I know I will be doing for mine.
Outstanding. I dont generally like nonfiction, selfhelp types of books, so take my rating with that in mind,
I felt like the author was really strong when she tied in the problems of perfectionism with various saints and historical figures, I learned from these comparisons and left with good food for thought, I got bored when she spoke so much about her own family and her opinionsit felt very selfcomplimentary at times, This book is amazing. It spoke to me in many of the areas of my life that I am currently wrestling with and spoke life and insight there.
Colleen Carroll Campbell is a refreshing voice in the Church today and speaks with candor and grace, Her discussions of balancing motherhood and marriage with career and other callings are powerful, Cannot recommend enough! I decided to read The Heart of Perfection because of my own perfectionistic tendencies, Colleen Carroll Campbell is an excellent writer so I enjoyed this book as a literary experience in addition to the content provided, I enjoy memoirs and learning about the authors own story when reading nonfiction, Campbell interspersed her own stories of struggles with perfectionism along with biographies of a number of saints, The story of how she was helped to overcome her perfectionism through learning from these saints was very encouraging to my perfectionistic heart,
Although Campbell is Roman Catholic and this book assumes the readers are as well, I think it would also be useful to Protestants.
As a Protestant myself, I was not familiar with most of the saints she presents in the book, But they were very real people with real struggles who learned though their lives to become closer to God and to inspire others, As a Protestant I dont revere the saints as Roman Catholics do, but I can still learn from their lives and teachings,
This book inspired me to learn more about many of these saints as well as giving me ideas for overcoming perfectionism, I recommend it to those interested in growth as Christians regardless of denomination, An awardwinning author, former presidential speechwriter, and mother of four weaves stories of her own struggles against comparison and impossible expectations with those of seven experfectionist saints and one heretic who show us how to pursue a new kind of perfection: freedom in Christ.
Spiritual perfectionisman obsession with flawlessness rooted in the belief that we can earn Gods loveis the most dangerous form of perfectionism because so many of us mistake it for virtue, or deny that it afflicts us at all.
Its toxic cycle of pride, sin, shame, blame, and despair distorts our vision, dulls our faith, and leads us to view others through the same hypercritical lens we think God is using to view us.
As a lifelong overachiever who drafted her first résumé in sixth grade and spellchecked her highschool boyfriends love letters, Colleen Carroll Campbell knows something about the perfectionist trap.
But it was only after she became a mother that she started to see how insidiously perfectionism had infected her spiritual life, how lethal it could be to her happiness and her family, and how disproportionately it afflicts the people working hardest to serve God.
In the ruins of her own perfectionist mistakes, Colleen dug into Scripture and the lives of the canonized saints for answers, She discovered to her surprise that many holy men and women she once saw as encouraging her perfectionism were, in fact, recovering perfectionists, And their gracefueled victory over this maladynot perfectionist strivingwas the key to their heroic virtue and contagious joy,
In The Heart of Perfection, Colleen weaves the stories and wisdom of these saints with Scripture and beautifully crafted tales of her own trialanderror experiments in applying that wisdom to her life.
She introduces us to such saints as Jane de Chantal, a single mother who conquered her impatience only after her experfectionist friend Saint Francis de Sales convinced her to trade punishing prayer regimens for the tougher discipline of showing gentleness to rude inlaws, rowdy kids, and herself.
Colleen describes the battle against obsessive guilt that turned timid peoplepleaser Alphonsus Liguori into a fearless defender of Gods mercy the discernment rules that helped Ignatius of Loyola overcome crippling discouragement and distraction the concern for reputation that almost cost the world the radical witness of Francis of Assisi and the biblical worklife balance that Benedict of Nursia pioneered after years of driving himself and others too hardand without surrendering his holy zeal.
Gorgeously written and deeply insightful, Colleen Carroll Campbells The Heart of Perfection shows that the solution to perfectionism is not to squelch our hardwired desires for excellence but to allow God to purify and redirect them, by swapping the chains of control and comparison for pursuit of a new kind of perfection: the freedom of the children of God.
I enjoyed learning about the different saints and seeing the parallel lessons she learned from them in her own life the last chapter seemed out of place and very drawn out.
Probably more of a,star rating A wonderful book for a planner, perfectionist like me, I loved the writing as well as the wellresearched information on the saints Campbell included, I only wish this book was around when I was raising my kids, So very good! Listened to on audio, read by the author,.stars
I enjoyed Campbells research and stories about the various saints, I just dont connect with her and her story, This was true of her memoir also, As I'm not Catholic I wasn't sure what to expect from this book, but I still found it to be meaningful, The author intermixed stories from her life and personal struggles with perfectionism with stories of Catholic saints who faced similar challenges, Anyone looking to learn to give themselves and others more grace will find something meaningful in this book,
I received an ARC from NetGalley, Excellent, easytoread book that draws wisdom from the saints on how to combat spiritual perfectionism and scrupulosity, The format of the book is half theology, half personal testimony of the author, Sometimes Id wish she spent more time on the theology/life of the saint dynamic, but the applications she makes to her own life were beneficial.
It helped that her writing is so engaging and entertaining ie, “When Im despairing of juggling work and motherhood and chewing over my latest encounter with naysayers both the antiwork types who think the only good mommy is a housebound martyr, and the antikid types who seem to think that a womans brain leaves her body with the placenta of her fourth childmy husband reminds me that their opinion doesnt count.
Gods does. ” I wish I could give thisstars, This books is brilliant and resonates so much with me, For anyone who doesnt let up on themselves especially in the spiritual life, this is a must read, This is the third book that I have read by Colleen Carroll Campbell, I liked her conversational tone, and how she shares her own struggles and allows me to really connect with her,
In The Heart of Perfection, the author brings her struggles with perfectionism into the light and explored it in the context of what the saints like St.
Benedict of Nursia who have wrestled with perfectionism and scrupulosity, She showed how though we are expected by the 'world' to be perfect how we can learn to live to be more gentle with ourselves and by extension to others around us.
I have done a lot of work in myself regarding perfectionism, and it is a welcome notion to know I am not alone in my inability to sometimes be harsh on myself.
Though Campbell herself is Catholic, as am I, this was a book that could be read by all believers, listened to the audiobook
Like her memoir, "My Sisters the Saints," this book parallels events from Campbell's own life with those of great saints.
This book packs less of an emotional punch, but is still edifying, When Campbell became a mother she found her latent perfectionist tendencies reaching a fever pitch, and the ageold "balance it all" problems were turning her life upside down.
In an unlikely move, she finds inspiration and solace from people we might be tempted to think of as "perfection" itself after all they were saints! But before they were saints they were just people, with personalities, struggles, sometimes violent tempers, many of whom struggled with spiritual perfectionism.
The sin of spiritual pride is especially rampant, and it's scary because it can go so easily unnoticed, even masquerading as a virtue.
Even within the Catholic Church, there are so many culture wars traditional versus liberal liturgical purists versus charismatic worshippers and while all these discussions are good and important because they relate to the present and future of the faith, they can also be a dangerous distraction from what really matters love of God, love of neighbor, love of self.
While I don't consider myself a perfectionist I have no problem flitting from one project to the next, leaving things a little untidy now and then, or just reveling in the random experiences that don't go according to plan I do have some controlling tendencies.
As Campbell notes, one of the first effects of the Fall was lack of trust in God, Adam and Eve hide in the garden God goes looking for them, perplexed by their sudden shyness in the face of their creator, I also grew up with a perfectionist and workaholic mother, and I related to Campbell's workaholism struggles if only by proxy,
I truly enjoyed meeting and deepening my relationship with the saints she featured, some of whom I had never even heard of.
This was an excellent book to listen to on Audible Campbell herself does the narration, However you encounter this work, I highly recommend it, Even if you don't consider yourself a perfectionist, I think you will still find many aspects of Campbell's story relatable, not to mention you will meet some amazing saints along the way.
Understanding what perfection is has a lot to do with understanding what love is, and that's something you're not going to learn in the world.
A few weeks ago someone in my "book friends" slack channel shared an article about "books that changed my life, " When I consider the topic for myself, this book is at the top of the list, It inspired a much needed trip to the confessional and an entire therapy session after reading just a few chapters,
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As a perfectionist, Colleen cut straight to that heart, Even when the Lord says, "be perfect as my Heavenly Father is perfect" He's not talking about a perfectionism that's so focused on everything looking good, pleasing other people, or following the hardest, strictest penances to perfect the spiritual life.
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He's asking us to just seek Him in all that we do, It's hard not to think of this as a formula, . . The Perfectionist's Guide to Overcoming Perfectionism, If only there were such steps, . . although they might be more harmful than helpful,
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Colleen isn't advocating for "not doing your best" or "doing a sloppy job because 'nothings' perfect, '" The point is to give ourselves and others grace, Step out in vulnerability. Focus on the heart of Christ rather than making sure our heart is perfectly perfect,
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This was a
buddy read with a friend, and I'm so glad I have someone to chat with about it and unpack all of the truths.
I think I used over abook darts and my favorite pen almost ran out of ink from underlining, So. Good.
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If you want to deepen your spiritual life, if you don't think you are a perfectionist because you 'just want to do your best,' if you think the saints were perfect so you have to be too, this book is for you.
Go Read it then come back and let's discuss because I could talk about it for hours!
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This is a book I didnt know I needed to read, It was perfect for this season of life, When I saw that Colleen Carroll Campbell had a book coming out, it took me approximately two seconds to preorder it, And then I read it,
“You dont have to be a congenital perfectionist like me to have a problem with perfectionism,” she writes in chapter, “Nor must you demand flawlessness in every part of your life, Perfectionism is simply an addiction to control and a refusal to accept imperfection in some human endeavor, ”
Hard stop. Full pause. Head explosion.
Perfectionism is a problem with control Perfectionism is a problem with control
Just looking at the chapter titles reveals the journey Campbell leads you on:
An Ancient Lie
The Struggle for Gentleness
Stalking Joy
Braving the Waves
The War Within
A Passionate Balance
Pilgrims and Strangers
From Head to Heart
In each chapter, Campbell introduces a saint and often more than one who accompanied her in her struggle with perfectionism.
Theyre not just added in, either: they are a beautiful part of the tapestry and lessons we can learn about what perfectionism is and is not.
The perfectionism struggle is one that spoke to me on a deep, moving level,
Perfectionism is, after all, a “problem,” one thats very much in quotes, because, come on: Do you really think its a problem
Its the “problem” many of us love to have, isnt it We glory in it: “Oh, Id stop checking email on vacation, but Im such a perfectionist and dont want to let things slip by me.
” We pride ourselves in it: “Well, good enough is never really good enough, ” We bask in it: “I cant help it, really, ”
So much of this book felt like it was written for me, Campbell is a mentor who walks the talk and talks the walk, She opens up to the reader and, in doing that, challenges each of us to open up to ourselves and, ultimately, to God,
“Praying for deliverance from fear is a crucial step for spiritual perfectionists, But before we can see freedom, we must recognize we are bound, Thats often a harder step, Fear is a sneaky demon it wears many disguises, And sometimes the religious voices we turn to for clarity and support only make us feel more afraid, embarrassed, and alone, ”
Highly recommended, whether youre looking for good writing or spiritual reading, This book fires on all cylinders, even if its not a car it is a great ride, though!, .