What’s Inspiring Me
December 2025
What I’m reading
The Art of Self-Approval: Midlife as a Sacred Return to Yourself
by Elaine Blais
Elaine Blais—friend, mentor, creative force, and a grounding presence in our Curated Conversations—writes with a truth-telling that goes straight to the heart. Hearing her voice rise from the page was a gift every midlife woman deserves to experience.
What if you were never the problem?
What if there was nothing to fix—only more of yourself to remember and reclaim?
For too long, women have been told to play small, to strive for perfection, and to measure their worth by how well they keep the peace. We’ve been taught that approval must be earned—by being good, quiet, pleasing, or productive. But the truth is, there was never anything wrong with you. You don’t need fixing – you need remembering.
In The Art of Self-Approval, Elaine Blais invites you into a bold reclamation of your true self. With raw storytelling, soulful reflections, and practices you can use in your own life, she shows you how to:
Break free from people-pleasing, perfectionism, and self-abandonment.
Make peace with your past and reframe your stories with compassion.
Stop negotiating your worth and start living from a place of radical honesty.
Say yes to your inner voice—and no to what was never meant to serve you.
Discover the joy, creativity, and freedom that come when you stop performing and start living.
Elaine’s journey—from divorce and midlife reinvention to learning how to bake sourdough bread—illuminates what it means to rise slowly, nourish what matters, and trust the rhythm of your own becoming. Part memoir, part spiritual guide, and part rebellion against a culture that profits from women’s self-doubt, this book is both practical and deeply personal.
Whether you’re navigating the messy middle of midlife, standing at the edge of change, or simply tired of asking for permission to be yourself, The Art of Self-Approval is an invitation to cross the threshold into your own sacred power.
You are not here to improve.
You are here to remember who you are: whole, radiant, and worthy, right now.
Find it where you browse for books.
