Brené Brown is a social scientist and research professor at the University of Houston, known for her work on shame and vulnerability. She's written several books about accepting yourself fully and what it means to create meaningful connections. This book challenges the reader to really become vulnerable with ourselves, our ways of thinking, and the people around us. It does talk a bit about divorce and substance abuse, as background information.
Brené Brown believes that our society is currently going through a crisis of disconnection, and I couldn't agree more. Just ask any adult how hard it is to make friends in their current stage of life. She gives background on how she always felt like she didn't quite fit in: always the new girl, wrong name, wrong race, wrong religion, wrong clothes. That feeling of loneliness led her to do whatever she could to fit in with her peers, something that I could really relate to. But that feeling of loneliness never really went away. She realized that she was always lonely because no one actually knew her, she wouldn't allow them to. If they really knew who she was, they may not like that person and that disdain would hurt more than anything, so she continued to show them only who they wanted her to be. It wasn't until she found a way to be really comfortable with herself and knew her own boundaries and steadfast beliefs, that she could become vulnerable with others and forge real, deep connections. This book tells you how she got to that place, the questions that she asked herself and the work that she did, while also challenging the reader to be more aware of how they react to others and the preconceived notions that we may have clouding how we view the people around us.
I'm giving Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown 3.25 out of 5 stars. I felt like this book relied very heavily on anecdotes, understandable given the topic at hand, but the way it was written sounded like a speech being given at a wedding. I really appreciated when she spoke about the quality of friends you have versus the quantity of friends. I will be taking some of the advice she gives about becoming more secure in who we are and relying less on flimsy connections, many of the exercises she gives seem like they would be beneficial. Overall, I feel I would have enjoyed this book more if it was a little less reminiscent and a little heavier on data.
For more about Brené Brown, visit her website at https://brenebrown.com/
Pairs well with a message from an old childhood friend.
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