Have you ever dreamed of a life full of laughter, love and sequins… But felt totally clueless about how to make it happen? You’re not alone. I spent years in soul-sucking jobs, battling depression, an eating disorder, and a preference for chaos and disaster, simply because I didn’t know how to create the life I dreamed about.
Radical Self-Love by Gala Darling Review
A Fresh and Groovy Take on Living Your Best Life!
With a voice that somehow manages to simultaneously sound like sweet, sweet honey with a rebellious shot of Jack Daniel’s, Gala Darling is a very exciting new discovery for everyone motivated to improve their life and rev up their joy factor.
Hay House UK very kindly sent me Gala’s book, essentially a ‘Guide to Loving Yourself and Living Your Dreams’ all but two days ago to review for our Book Club. Well, guess what? I simply couldn’t put this one down…
The author, (who actually changed her name from Amy with a $150 check, to one which matched her the-sky-is-soooooooo-not-the-limit approach to life… no offence to anybody out there called Amy!), takes us on a journey through self-love, happiness, friendships, love and sex, magic, personal style, and that all too oft overlooked concept of manners, helping us re-discover our true potential on this planet at this moment in time. It really is a rollicking thrill of a ride and the kind of book you will want to return to immediately, highlighter in hand (or a beautiful journal if you can’t bear the thought of defacing the pages!) to capture every sparkly new gem of insight that jumps out at you and speaks to your heart.
Gala is just so in tune with the younger generation.
Her words will be an absolute tonic to late teens and twentysomethings in particular. That’s not to say the rest of us are ‘past it’ (I love, love, love that she equally has a bee in her bonnet about women deciding they are officially Over The Hill at 40… and the birthday candle years running up to that ‘milestone’. Gala, I can’t begin to tell you how much we have in common, so if you need any new internet friends…!) and that we cannot glean anything new from her wisdom and experiences.
Her voice is a magnet to everybody interested in Self-Help, newbies and veterans alike!
But I love her mass appeal to those who are growing up in the true sense of the high tech, social media age. She really ‘gets’ them. And she really digs them too. Her advice, techniques and soul baring to those fixated on their ‘dream’ guy or girl, those seeking out their career paths and personal fashion statements, those struggling to fit in with their peer groups, is a veritable banquet of a powerhouse of information to really turn their lives around into the direction that flows with their inner beings. All too often, when it comes to Self-Help, these particular generations are kind of left adrift. God only knows, I wish Gala’s book was about when I was seventeen…
Gala (whom I officially only ‘met’ two days ago) is making me question so many things…
Like my name. By her own admission, her name change is on the somewhat extreme side of the spectrum… and comes after some interesting experimentation – you’ll just have to read the book to see what I mean! But isn’t it fantastic to know that we all have the wherewithal to take a leaf out of her book if our name no longer speaks to us, no longer sums the real us up? She’s a rebel for sure. But she’s a rebel with a brilliant cause.
Her revelations about tapping have also utterly intrigued me. And whilst I haven’t yet had chance to put this into practice, I will definitely be trying it out…
She’s made me re-question my entire wardrobe – in a good way. So much so, I intend to put an hour aside this weekend to re-haul and re-brand myself. Gone will be any item I have not worn in the last year. Because why would I keep it if it hasn’t called me to take it on any outing in the last 365 days?
She’s given me some wonderful… and wacky ideas to funk up my daily routines into something much more party-like. Even the school run! Oh yeah, I’m fully intending to set aside 2 minutes to get out on my balcony and photograph the sunrise, to add a bubble machine to the mix while the kids are getting dressed, and to rhyme all my work emails when I get back to my desk, coffee in hand.
Let’s get this #rslbook revolution started!
Gala is real.
She has been there and worn the Body Shaming T-Shirt, existing on mainly caffeine as she decided life was about emulating Mary -Kate Olsen (her personal style role model in her early twenties), depriving herself of food and smiles, and basically shunning happiness at every turn.
She is a real life Law of Attraction role model.
Since discovering that, in fact, it is US who are in control of our lives by virtue of our feelings (primarily), thoughts, words and actions, Gala has completely turned her life around. It is no exaggeration to say that she simply would not be where she is today had she not started reaching daily for those better feeling thoughts and acting ‘As If’ – one of my personal favourite regular go-to’s for creating the feeling of the life we want.
And so, Gala Darling is our personal reminder that by starting off small, ALL of us have that exact same potential, regardless of the size of our dreams and goals.
Because Radical Self-Love is no less than all of us deserve.
Radical Self-Love is published by Hay House.
ISBN: 978-069244-127-5
