by Rachel Staggs

Just stopping to use the bathroom in a local bookstore brought this unique, beautiful book into my life. If I had to choose one word to describe this book it would be HONEST. The author is a young woman in search of herself, which helps us find ourselves through reading her book. I took this book on a trip where I spent time alone and found myself writing more of my feelings down -- and owning them. I started painting in my journal and spent more time exploring. The pages of Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself (by Sabrina Ward Harrison, New World Library) are amazing; every inch is different than the rest. It screams originality. Pages are colored with paint, photos, intriguing words, musical scores, momentos, tea bags, and truthful sadness.

When I spoke with 23-year-old Sabrina Ward Harrison she was suffering from stomach ulcers in her home in Berkley, California. Despite her illness, Sabrina spoke with me about many of life's journeys, her current situation, and the future.

Harrison began to create and discover art in high school. She was encouraged to attend art school by a supportive teacher who saw that expressive spark in Sabrina. She began journaling in design school where she enrolled in a class called "Life Stories." She enjoyed this class tremendously, she says, and "journals became more interesting than the slick graphic design" classes. Unfortunately, mononucleosis took over her life and she was forced to leave school.

During her illness she called upon the author SARK for inspiration, leaving a message on SARK's "inspiration line." SARK called her back to thank her for openly sharing how "disheveled" she felt. The two began a friendship and Harrison started sharing her journals with SARK. After a while, SARK encouraged her to write a book. Harrison protested, thinking she was too young. In SARK's foreword to this book she writes, "Sabrina is a luminous mystery, a carousel of feelings, lumps and discoveries. If you could lie down with her journals, you would see genius. That genius is in this book. Yes, she is young. Thank god, we might get that much more from/of her." Sabrina Ward Harrison is younger than I am, and I feel completely connected to this book. It has nothing to do with age. On the back of her book, Harrison writes, "I often feel an overwhelming pressure to 'have it all together.' What is it? I feel young. I am young. I never passed algebra. I am a work in progress. This book is my life in progress. A growing expedition through the tangled and unfilled-in parts of understanding. My life, my truth, and myself. I want to share it. Welcome inside."

It's a brave step to open up to the masses about your fears and insecurities. Thank you, Sabrina Ward Harrison.

Harrison's inspirations include Anais Nin's journals and May Sarton's Journal of A Solitude. She is currently reading What We Know So Far, a compilation of women writing about what they have learned through their lives, as well as Promiscuities by Naomi Wolfe. She is deeply affected by artists Robert Rauschenberg and Brian Andreas who "used words and images together, broke rules with color, used old bits of fabric." Music is prevalent in Harrison's life. She mentions musicians like Lenord Cohen, Bob Dylan, Ani Difranco and the Indigo Girls on a page in her book. Underneath these musicians names, she has drawn a star with the phrase "all you need." Below this she writes music.

Currently, Sabrina Ward Harrison is teaching a class called "The Art of Becoming Yourself." She shares the art of journal-making with children. If only I had taken such a class during those junior high years, maybe I wouldn't have grown up so unsure of my identity. Harrison is teaching in California now, with thoughts of creating workshops around the country for young women. She also told me about her most recent odd job. The band Sixpence None The Richer asked Harrison to create a complete set for their new video. They read Spilling Open and wanted the book to come to life. They will be walking around as if they are in the book. Harrison created 24 paintings sized four feet by four feet along with the entire three-dimensional set. The video for "There She Goes" should be airing soon. In the future look for Harrison to bring another book of art to the world. She has plans for her second book full of experiences, possibly written on a drive across the country.

I recommend Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself to everyone, especially young women. Not only is it visually pleasing, creative in design and full of feelings that all people can identify with, it also inspires readers to search inside themselves, to communicate, and to love themselves.