One Hundred Birds Taught Me to Fly: The Art of Seeking God Paperback – August 15, 2017

I am enjoying this book. I read a section and savor it a while before I move on. This author has beautiful thinking and writes with a narrator's voice. Uplifting!

This book was an absolute joy to read. It’s raw and personal, sincere, and inspirational without being didactic. While I definitely believe it can be special and meaningful for all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, particularly as a woman in the middle of intense faith struggles, it was exactly what I needed.Hoiland’s collection of essays tells a story of how she has “both found and lost God a hundred times over” (p. 73). It is about her attempts to find God and godliness, in both obvious and unexpected places, by connecting with her loved ones, herself, and the world around her. She speaks of belief, spirituality, and church culture in sensitive and nuanced ways, honestly and openly discussing doubts and cynicism while still maintaining a foundation of hope, sincerity, and faith.I wept several times over multiple days while reading this, because the stories she chose to tell just felt so tailored to my doubts, questions, and desires. Her words became a life raft for me in the depths of my attempts to navigate this religion I have grown up in and want so desperately to stay a part of. I feel more hopeful and more willing to accept all parts of my journey (the spiritual lows and the faith “crises,” too) as a part of my life story, and I hope as she does that one day I will look back and realize my story “was one of faith all along” (p. 108).

One Hundred Birds Taught Me to Fly: The Art of Seeking God by Ashley Mae Hoiland was a book unlike any I had ever read. This book was truly uplifting and beautifully written. One Hundred Birds Taught Me to Fly is a compilation of experiences and insights from Hoiland’s life. Holiand highlights that faith is not perfect and that individuals are capable of change. This book teaches the audience that spirituality is not gained through one experience, but all the experiences throughout the entirety of a life. Hoiland emphasizes how her relationship with her Heavenly Parents has been changed and evolved throughout the duration of her life. Ashley Mae Hoiland shares how the simple things in life such as laughter and creativity have improved her relationship to God. Hoiland’s writing is easy to understand however it is incredibly profound. It is profound because she shares spiritual insights that are applicable to many people’s lives. The experiences shared are from different stages throughout her own life, and she shares the progress she has personally made. She writes about her own perfectionism, trails, and family and how each of these things have helped her grow spiritually and as a person. However, she also writes the experiences of those around her and how other’s experiences have impacted her own testimony. Unlike many others, she shares about both the joys and the hardships of being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I would highly recommend this book to those looking for spiritual motivation and beautiful writing.

Most importantly in this book, Hoiland allows erasures. The stories and insights, (like the drawings of people in the book that do not have faces) allow gaps, doubts, uncertainty. The book celebrates what we don't know, encourages living in uncertainty without irritable reaching after facts. Hoiland seems to argue that our spiritual experiences are sacred because they're mysterious and that god is beautiful because he/she is mysterious. Mystery allows Hoiland's imagination to work. Allows us to think and wonder. Mystery empowers. This lovely, quiet book brought me to the epiphany that maybe god has not given us all information because whoever he/she is wants us to have the gift of imagining. Ashley's book is foremost a celebration of the imagination and a testament to its sanctity.Not only a book for Mormons. Anyone trying to make sense of what it means to be a spiritual being in a physical world, will find value in this exploratory work.Reminiscent of Marilynne Robinson's quiet yet celebratory tone. A life-affirming book.

Admittedly when I first began reading the book I was a little doubtful that I would enjoy it. There were a few poems that were a little too far into the realm of poetry for someone that doesn’t really appreciate many forms of poetry. However, the more I read, the more beautiful and intricate Hoiland’s expression of her experiences became. I did really appreciate what she can do with prose. There were many instances when she expressed a feeling or a thought that I too have had, but with words that I had failed to find in attempting to share with others. She provided me with a moving account of her struggles and shortcomings in life, and although she is still at a point in her life that will be characterized as noisy and messy, she left me with a sense of hope. Her own hope, but also a hope in me that was cultivated as I read and tried to relate to the many encounters she recorded in these pages. As the back cover says, she does delve into “the art of seeking God,” but also the art of seeking oneself in God. There is truly no better way to find oneself and become one’s best self than in trying to understand where you come from and who is fighting for you each and every day. It is in seeking God that Hoiland is able to accept her imperfections and realize that she is blessed everyday with sacred moments that can reveal the nature of both of her heavenly parents to her.

This was somehow not what I expected but so much more. I'm grateful for the author's vulnerability in writing this, for her thoughtfulness, her empathy. It is well worth the read, I've learned about myself and life as I read.

I loved every page of this book. It is soul-expanding and affirming.