I finished a 4th of Brene Brown's books this week, and just like the other 3 I read, I loved it. Braving the Wilderness (linked below) is about the quest for belonging and the courage to stand alone. It's an easy read and I highly recommend it, but thought I'd share a couple notes I saved for myself below that you may also like:
Brene wrote about gossip and friendships and really taking the time to analyze the foundation of some of the people you surround yourself with. This is something I've been thinking about a lot lately. Just to be clear, I'm not saying I don't love gossip as much as the next person, because I do. And just like Brene said, there is nothing that brings two people closer together than the shared disdain for another person. So believe me, I get it. However, the way she described these encounters has stuck with me and I had to share it. She said leaving interactions with those friendships based solely on gossip often left her with “an integrity hangover.” I have not stopped thinking about this.
Brene also talked about the need to be vulnerable in order to connect with others. And given the political climate that we live in, I found this section especially poignant. She goes on to say that the stories brought up in the news (citing examples like the gun debate) are typically painted as black or white when in reality there's much more nuance than that. She went on to stress the importance of getting uncomfortable and having difficult conversations, not painting people with a broad brush, and REALLY listening to each other instead of simply agreeing to disagree--something I admittedly often resort to.
Anyway it's a great book, and if you want to read it, I've linked it under the things I loved section below.
