I received a copy of this book from the publisher to facilitate my review.  As always, all opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Identity

Identity is a big thing.  And it seems like it should be simple: we are ourselves, so we ought to know who we are, right?  But people are so complex — and so surrounded by others who influence us — that it isn’t always so obvious.  It often takes some exploration…a voyage of self-discovery to find/recognize who God made us to be.

The Declaration of You

The Declaration of You is fun guide to this voyage.  Dig down through all the voices telling you what you should be, and figure out what really makes you tick!  The overall “feel” of the book is quirky and fun and “outside the box,”  making it a bit easier to get your own thinking out of the box, as well.

Now, I do have to warn you that it’s mildly irreverent in places.  There are a few potentially offensive words here or there.  (None of the really strong ones — at least not that I saw — but definitely a few that most of us would’ve gotten our mouths washed out with soap for as kids.)  But if you can overlook these (or mark them out with a Sharpie), there’s much to be gained here.

Some of the prompts are somewhat incremental, so you’re sort of meant to do them in order.  But really nothing in the book has to be done in order.  Jump in wherever you feel like.  It’s intended as a workbook, so you’ll be writing directly in the book.  There are external-to-the-book exercises, too, though.  A vision board (if you’re not familiar with this, that name might sound a little weird, but the concept is not inherently weird), a celebration jar, a name collage.  Lot of things that are just FUN.

Now, this is definitely not a Christian book.  Some of the ideas here will reflect that.  I don’t mind eating the watermelon and spitting out the seeds, though, so I enjoyed it, regardless.

Each topic has a “main” exercise.  If you do just this one exercise for each topic, you’ll have a well-formed statement of YOU in that area.  But then they have “extras,”  too.  This is nice because sometimes the “Extra Extras” resonate better, and make it easier to complete the primary exercise.  Scattered among these are brief interviews with various creative people, to offer some inspiration.  There’s even an interview with Danielle LaPorte, one of the authors of one of my other favorite self-discovery books!