Grace Victory: No Filter – My Thoughts
I’m not gonna lie. Now living in Mauritius, one of the things I miss most about England is Amazon Prime and their next day delivery service. That being said, I guess I have to be grateful that I was still able to get a copy of Grace Victory’s No Filter from the UK out to this tiny speck of an island in the middle of the Indian Ocean (despite receiving confirmation that it would take 10 days to arrive, when it actually took closer to a month, but hey, island life!).
Anyhoo, I first came across award-winning blogger and YouTube star Grace a couple of years ago randomly on social media and from then on began to sporadically watch her videos on YouTube. Despite having had my own YouTube channel a couple of years prior to this, I was never really into YouTube – there was no one on there that I could really relate to and it just seemed that everyone that was, was producing the same old content which I really didn’t find entertaining, relatable or educational (seriously, what is with all these ‘challenges’?). What instantly struck me about Grace however was that she was different, yet just so normal; someone who I quickly felt connected to via my iPhone screen as I saw a lot of myself in her in a way. Now, the beauty and the fashion stuff, as great as it is, is not really what I’m into – however, the way she spoke so openly and honestly about taboo subjects is what I really connected with, as I feel that true, positive change can only come about in society when issues that affect us, whether in a minority or a majority, are actually addressed rather than ignored. So I went from watching her sporadically to watching her regularly – and there we had it, in me a YouTube fan had finally been born.
I paid almost double the cost of Grace’s debut book, No Filter, to have it shipped out to Mauritius – not only because I want to support her, but also because I genuinely believed that I would take so much from it. And that I definitely did. From the moment I read the words on the opening page – ‘For any woman who needs a reason NOT to give up. This is it’ – I was hooked.
No Filter, Grace’s uncensored story, does exactly what it says on the tin. She opens up and bears all without holding back and without sugar-coating anything – basically, the Grace you read on the blog and the Grace you see on your screens, is exactly the Grace you get in this book, but even more. I was fascinated by how open she actually is in her autobiographical book – allowing the reader to view and experience extremely intimate and personal moments throughout her life; from her broken childhood through to sexual trauma that broke her even further in her teens. But what’s even greater is that she tells us how she took steps to overcome everything that broke her, and makes you feel that you too can do the same. Here are parts of No Filter that stood out the most for me…
- Hurtful words from family
Like Grace, I’ve had self-image and body issues my entire life. In the second chapter of the book, Grace tells us how her uncles would mindlessly insult her in her childhood, without any thought or regard to how their poisonous words could and would affect her. Been there! Being British Asian and growing up around Pakistani relatives whose minds still seem to be stuck back in their villages in Pakistan where the worst possible thing you could be was ‘fat’, I too during childhood endured my fair share of uncles and aunties making mindless ‘jokes’ while commenting on my weight. Only now do I realise just how much their words affected me. This chapter of the book really allowed me to go back into that pain and try to make sense of it all.
- The Introverted Extrovert
Damn! Thank you so much for this Grace as I now know that I too am bordering on an introverted extrovert. In this chapter, Grace explores her personality and explains the meaning of ‘introverted extrovert’ and as someone who only discovered that she was kind of an introvert a few years ago, this blew my mind. I’ve always loved being alone yet I enjoy being the centre of attention – performing on stage, speaking in public, writing a blog, being on YouTube… that kind of thing. This all made SO much sense to me, finally!
- Sexual Trauma
‘I Own My Body, Not You’ is a chapter of the book in which my respect for Grace’s journey and her courage grew ten-fold. For a while now, in her blog and on her channel, she has made reference to her trauma and this chapter finally reveals what it was. Although not the same situation, I experienced trauma in my childhood which I still haven’t fully dealt with nor had the guts to speak openly about yet so I truly commend Grace for allowing herself to relive all the pain she went through in order to not only help herself, but to help others too.
- Turning pain into passion
Finally, this chapter of the book really gave me the kick I needed to pursue my goals and not give a f*ck what anyone else thinks. A big part of what Grace does is all about helping and empowering other people, especially women (after all, her slogan is ‘Empowered Women Empower Women’) and in everything she does today, she does exactly that. Now in 2017, aged 27, and with amazing accomplishments already under her belt, Grace has proven just how you can transform your innermost pain into your deepest passions, allow that passion to bring you success and go on to conquer your dreams.
Final Thoughts
While reading No Filter there were times when I was literally sobbing and would have to close the book and put it down, because parts of it were just so relatable to me. There were times reading this book that feelings and pain that I never even knew I had bottled away, emerged to the top and bubbled over making me realise just how much baggage I was still carrying. Yet, there were other times reading this where I was smiling and enthusiastically nodding my head (I sound like a right weirdo, I know) as if Grace was sitting right in front of me and we were having a good ol’ chat over a cup of coffee. Being a very spiritual person and being on my own path to consciousness and inner peace, the only thing missing for me in this book was Grace’s stance on spirituality. I would love to know more about her thoughts in energies and higher powers, but I guess there will always be more blogposts, videos and possibly even books.
Finally, No Filter is real, raw, open and honest and is exactly what you would expect from a woman who has tried to only ever give her true self to the world through her online presence. At a time in my life where I am trying to let go of all the fear that has ever held me back and am heading on my own personal journey to pursuing my goals, No Filter has given me a massive boost of confidence and big giant kick up the a*se to do and achieve everything that I desire.
So, for No Filter and all the fantastic work she is doing in the world, I commend and applaud Grace F Victory. The world definitely needs more positive, real, female role models and this vibrant woman is definitely one of them. Get your copy of No Filter here.
