Perfect Is Boring (and It Tastes Like Kale): Finding Belonging and Purpose Without Changing Who You Are

In this quippy guide, Motherly contributor Johnston (coauthor of I’ll Be There (but I’ll Be Wearing Sweatpants)) calls on women to cast aside unrealistic social expectations and embrace their God-given “flaws and gifts.” Recalling her adolescent struggles with an eating disorder, the author describes how she transformed “from a girl who hated her flaws and was at war with her body to one who thinks her flaws are some of the greatest things about her.” She did so by dismantling false notions that lead to personal dissatisfaction—among them that rejection is akin to social death, that one must “be all things to all people,” and that asking for help is a sign of weakness. Solid suggestions, like recognizing that what brings “peace and purpose” is important even if it seems ordinary—“I don’t always feel excited about the day-to-day mundane (sometimes I lose myself down a rabbit hole of Instagram escapism), but I know deep down it’s where I’m supposed to be”—are enlivened by Johnston’s refreshingly self-aware humor (“Hi, I’m Jess and I’m a people pleaser. I also dabble in codependency just for fun”). Christian women should take note of this down-to-earth invitation to seek self-acceptance. (Feb.)