Daring Greatly - By Brene Brown, Ph.D., LMSW
This is the third book of Brene Brown's I have read, plus I think I have watched all her Ted talks. Her little animated videos are also really great. She has written at least 9 books and I'm sure they are all very good.
I find her books easy to read and understand and love her sense of humor and honesty. You can tell she has spent much time contemplating and studying her data. She is a very honest storyteller and does lay out some very important facts that we as a society should listen to and try to be courageous enough to make the changes. She dares us to show up and let ourselves be seen. She writes in the introduction, "The first step of that journey is understanding where we are, what we're up against, and where we need to go. I think we can best do that by examining our pervasive "Never Enough" culture."
From the Introduction - Brene says she became a shame and empathy researcher and worked to develop a theory that explained what shame was, how it worked, and how we cultivate resilience in the face of believing we are not enough. In this she realised that there was also a flip side. People who she calls Wholehearted people, who despite many things that happen were resilient to shame and believed in their worthiness. These Wholehearted people have a way of engaging with the world from a place of worthiness. She has a list she calls The Gifts of Imperfection, which are guideposts for Wholehearted living and point to what Wholehearted people work to cultivate and what they work to let go of.
It won't be any easy journey, as Brene writes, "from excruciating to exquisite, but for me it's been worth every step."
I know I still have many steps to go to becoming a Wholehearted person, but I am also glad I am on the path.
Some of the titles of the Chapters of her book are Scarcity: Looking Inside Our Culture of "Never Enough"; Debunking the Vulnerability Myths; Understanding and Combating Shame and The Vulnerability Armory.
I like so many of the words in this book, words like wholehearted, brave, courage, forgiveness, Gifts of Imperfection, Becoming Real (from one of favorite childhood books - you know the one :)), practicing gratitude, don't squander joy, appreciating the beauty of cracks, self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness - to list a few. Ideas that help dispel many of the things we have been told and/or tell ourselves.
At the end of the book in her Final Thoughts she reminds us that, "Daring Greatly is not about winning or losing. It's about courage."
Brene writes that Connection are why we are here. We are hardwired to connect with others, it's what gives us purpose and meaning to our lives, and without it there is suffering.
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Here are some links to her official webpage and one of her Ted Talks:
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Some images I found from Brene's book online.
"Courage is to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart"
Namaste.
Pamela Nelson
Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher
