These books have made me think and have somehow spoken to my innermost person. They are emotionally difficult and challenging to read. But so incredibly worth it. This woman has a Ph.D. and has done her research, but she doesn’t fall into the trap that many academics/researchers fall into. She writes in normal language. None of that jargon-filled, hard-to-understand stuff that frequents academic writing.
She writes about shame and vulnerability and failure and belonging. She’s honest and open about her life and experiences. It would be easy to be all negative and depressing when writing about failure and shame. But Brene Brown isn’t. There’s honesty and research and humor and hope.
Brene Brown doesn’t talk you around in circles. She tells it like it is. I’ve watched some of her Facebook live posts and she’s not afraid to be who she is. She dresses how she is most comfortable on stage when she speaks. She doesn’t change what she says if she feels it would be less genuine. I admire that.
I will most definitely be going back and re-reading these books, because once through just isn’t enough.
I’ll leave you with this though from Maya Angelou that Brene Brown quotes in Braving the Wilderness:
“You are only free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place –no place at all.”
You can find her website here.
Every day we experience the uncertainty, risks, and emotional exposure that define what it means to be vulnerable, or to dare greatly. Whether the arena is a new relationship, an important meeting, our creative process, or a difficult family conversation, we must find the courage to walk into vulnerability and engage with our whole hearts.
In Daring Greatly, Dr. Brown challenges everything we think we know about vulnerability. Based on twelve years of research, she argues that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather our clearest path to courage, engagement, and meaningful connection. The book that Dr. Brown’s many fans have been waiting for, Daring Greatly will spark a new spirit of truth—and trust—in our organizations, families, schools, and communities.(goodreads)
Brown argues that we’re experiencing a spiritual crisis of disconnection, and introduces four practices of true belonging that challenge everything we believe about ourselves and each other. She writes, “True belonging requires us to believe in and belong to ourselves so fully that we can find sacredness both in being a part of something and in standing alone when necessary. But in a culture that’s rife with perfectionism and pleasing, and with the erosion of civility, it’s easy to stay quiet, hide in our ideological bunkers, or fit in rather than show up as our true selves and brave the wilderness of uncertainty and criticism. But true belonging is not something we negotiate or accomplish with others; it’s a daily practice that demands integrity and authenticity. It’s a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts.” Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves and to each other. And that path cuts right through the wilderness. Brown writes, “The wilderness is an untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching. It is a place as dangerous as it is breathtaking, a place as sought after as it is feared. But it turns out to be the place of true belonging, and it’s the bravest and most sacred place you will ever stand.”