How Far You Have Come: Musings on Beauty and Courage
Published April 27th 2021 by Zondervan, Hardcover 224 pages
How Far You Have Come is an exquisitely illustrated collection of poetry and essays from bestselling artist and writer Morgan Harper Nichols. In the midst of the hurt and the mundane, the questions and the not yets, you can forget just how far you have come. Morgan weaves together personal reflections with her signature poems, encouraging you to reclaim moments of brokenness, division, and pain and re-envision them as experiences of reconciliation, unity, and hope.
As Morgan reflects on the moments that shaped her, she invites you to:
Awaken your heart and recognize how your own history has made you who you are today
Into a deeper understanding of pressing on and pressing in, of transformation and surrender, of meaning in the losses and wild anticipation for the splendor ahead
Reclaim moments of brokenness, division, and pain and re-envision them as experiences of reconciliation, unity, and hope
Become who you are in the moment you hold right now
A Wall Street Journal and Publishers Weekly bestselling author, Morgan has cultivated a loyal online community, over a million Instagram followers, and an in-person following as she shares her unique message around the country. How Far You Have Come is an excellent gift for college and high school graduations, faith celebrations and anniversaries, life transitions, and birthdays or simply a gift for yourself.
User Reviews
Rating: really liked it
This is such a beautiful book. Every page comes alive with gorgeous art and poignant words. It made me cry, it gave me hope. It was exactly what I needed today.
Rating: really liked it
I like how reading this book is like being on a road trip itself. The book is split into US states, each of which contains several poems and an essay in which the author reflects upon her life.
The book itself is gorgeous, being full of vivid imagery as well as beautiful illustrations. Talk about a visual feast! It would certainly make the perfect company for when you are on a road trip or in the great outdoors.
However, I wasn't a fan of the writing or the tone (which felt quite preachy at times) even though the content was good. I liked the reminders about slowing down and enjoying your surroundings, but I just somehow couldn't connect with the book and even had a few false starts.
On the aesthetics front, the book deserves 5⭐ but overall it was quite a unmemorable read for me.
Rating: really liked it
Another beautiful book of inspirational poems! Highly recommend <3
Rating: really liked it
I've been a fan of Morgan's for a while now and this book is a beautiful addition to my favourites list. Each page has art unique to the next, the poems each offering both motivational and uplifting to the reader.
I've never disliked a single piece from MHN and I can't say that I found one in this to start today. I wasn't even looking for them. Everything she writes is wonderful and although I may not connect with every single poem, I definitely enjoy them still.
I love picking this up when I need a little pick-me-up and I recommend doing the same. I read the poems in order but only when I felt I needed the words that it offered me and it just made me enjoy it that much more!
Rating: really liked it
Y’all need to run and buy this book! It was so well written and the pages were absolutely breathtaking with their watercolor images. There were so many pages that spoke to me and validated my story. I loved that this was about traveling and felt like a journey as I read along. Overall it was just beautiful to look at and to read.
Rating: really liked it
I will not let the pulse of the clock dictate the pulse of my life. The visceral combination of mesmerizing artwork and gorgeous prose made this book out to be an immediate 5/5 stars for me. The story was so mesmerizingly sequential that I truly felt as if I were travelling along with Nichols throughout her life's journey. I loved how Nichols didn't depict the trips she took as a vocational reprieve, but as an interwoven part of her life that allowed her to learn many life lessons and shift her perspective over time. A lot of the poems in this book come off as affirmational, and I plan on using my favorite quotes from this book as motivation or inspiration on days where I'm feeling low. Coincidentally I was learning about the Romanticism period in school as I was reading this book, and the overlap between this book's lessons and the beliefs of the Romantics surprised me. Many of the poems in this book revolve around reconnecting wih nature and almost acts as a love letter to childhood, nature, and all things beautiful. Overall, I loved this! :)
Rating: really liked it
I don’t typically read poetry but MHN is so talented and her words and art are stunning. This is a book I’ll be glad to have on my bookshelf
Rating: really liked it
Buying the paper book straight away. It's beautifully written and the aesthetics are magical. It reduced my existential anxiety a lot. The journey of coming home, learning to trust the process and having hope was what I needed to start this new year!
Rating: really liked it
“Step into these grassy farmlands,
take cold air in, let your lungs expand.”
A deeply impressive collection of the expectations of “growing up” that we place on ourselves and the difficult reality of what it’s like to mature as a person. The artwork that accompanies almost every piece perfectly captures the spirit of Harper Nichols’ poetry and prose. There are a few poems that, by themselves, are overly simple platitudes. The rhyme schemes of some are unimpressive. But then, almost on cue, a poem or line of prose appears that instantly fills the soul. A few do not connect well to the prose or other poems in this collection. Yet, I find myself returning to this book and reflecting on what it means to feel so lost as you grow up.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 sunrises/sunsets.
Rating: really liked it
Morgan has become one of my favorite poetic authors this year. I first read her
All Along You Were Blooming, then picked up a copy of
How Far You Have Come after I loved the other so much.
This volume is beautiful. It is a collection of place-based poetry interspersed with reflective narrative sections, and the whole book is filled with Morgan’s beautiful illustrations. As a native Californian, I especially loved reading the California section, but I also found myself dog-earing pages all throughout the book so I could revisit my favorite poems later on.
Here are a couple of stanzas that stood out to me as I read:
“Invite joy to
meet your sorrow.
Let in hope
for tomorrow.
Bridge the fragments
of who you are,
and learn to see
beauty in your scars.”
“You will desire to go
beyond the limits
to get there faster.
But moving at a careful pace
requires courage in this race,
as if to say
time does not define me,
I do not answer to the tick of the clock
and will not give in to its alluring tongue.
In my own speed,
with my own limits,
I am still becoming.”
“Come back down
to the beat of your heart.
Come back to the joy of color.
Come back home to believing
hope still runs in your veins.
You’re finding your way
in the wind,
but you can always come
back to Light again.”Highly recommend, and while you’re at it, pick up
All Along You Were Blooming too. I liked that one even better, to the point that I wanted to buy an extra two copies so I could turn the pages into a collection of framed art prints for my walls. I still might do just that! =)
Rating: really liked it
This was a visually stunning poetry book.
The author is amazingly skilled and her art enriches her words and enchants me.
How Far You Have Come was beautiful and truly touched me at times, but I found the overall undertones (i.e. nature and its beauties) to be ever so slightly cliché.
Nonetheless, reading this collection was a pleasure and I will keep my eyes peeled for her next work.
Favourite Poems:Without knowing
What comes next,
You are still
Flying west.
And even the smallest steps
Are marked by
courage
And grace
-----------------------------
I do not know why I am still here
Or why I say anything at all.
In a word spinning wildly with questions
Water circling in a thousand directions,
My tired heart still beats
While I search for meaning,
And I feel like an imposter
On some hero’s journey.
I will trust that I matter.
I am here,
I live,
I breathe,
and I speak with curiosity.
Existence is a mystery,
But I will live my life
With intention.
-----------------------------
Ochre clouds
Fill the sky.
The sun is low,
My hopes
Are high.
I do not
Always stop
And notice the light,
But I will
continue
To try.
Rating: really liked it
I think some of the most beautiful poetry I’ve ever read has always come from a place of full surrender and vulnerability from the author. You can almost feel the pain or joy from the poet’s words. Although I saw glimpses of this in Nichols’ work, especially in the section about Dallas, most of it fell flat for me. Poetry written for the sake of looking pretty is seldom good poetry that connects with one’s soul. This book had its moments but the majority of it felt like superficial deepness, the kind that you would hear from the pulpits of mega churches — words crafted to make you feel good, but without much substance beneath it.
Rating: really liked it
"I was where I was meant to be, even when I thought I should be somewhere else by then."
4/7
Rating: really liked it
I was really excited about this one, but sadly it didn't seem to go very far. The language/writing was not out of the ordinary and the topics didn't speak to me.
Rating: really liked it
I love and am so grateful for what Morgan Harper Nichols is putting out into the world. The art and poetry are so affirming and growth-oriented. This book would make a great gift.
