Review: Bright Shining: How Grace Changes Everything

Gaby Meares

I loved Julia’s first book [b:Phosphorescence: On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark|52541673|Phosphorescence On Awe, Wonder and Things That Sustain You When the World Goes Dark|Julia Baird|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1581416196l/52541673.SX50_SY75.jpg|73666224], giving it to everyone for Christmas the year it was published. So I was excited by the release of her new book exploring ‘how grace changes everything’. I attended her launch in Sydney and was deeply moved by her personal anecdotes relating to grace.

Grace is a slippery sucker - impossible to define. And although she tries, this book doesn’t have the cohesiveness of Phosphorescence, because its central premise is so elusive. There were moments when I was left wondering what the point of a particular story was, and where she was heading.

But there are many moments that resonated with me - Julia often mentions empathy, and she certainly has it in spades! She refers to John Koenig’s book [b:The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows|56897474|The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows|John Koenig|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1634748607l/56897474.SX50.jpg|67540172] and the word he coined: ‘sonder’. The definition of ‘sonder’ is

the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own…in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background…
This is in direct contrast to the prevailing trend of ‘main character energy’ where everyone puts themselves first, ‘acting like the star of their own show’.

There is a chapter entitled ‘Restlaufzeit: In the Time We Have Left, We Must Dance’ where she writes about the time we waste (particularly women) on striving for a ‘perfect’ body. But she points out that
our bodies, our misshapen, lumpy, wobbly, birth-marked, uneven, scarred, imperfect bodies are our vessels. If only we were more gracious towards them. They won’t last forever, they will eventually grow frail, we will miss the strength and vigour of our younger selves. But, for now, when alive, when upright, when walking through days with purpose, without pain, they are vessels for adventure, for sleep, for song, for dance, and a place where we experience joy.
This quote alone made this book worth reading.

This is a positive book, and god knows we need more books like this: books that point us in the right direction, towards empathy, kindness, and ultimately, grace.