Braving The Wilderness by Brene Brown

I've heard of Brene Brown and wanted to give her a try. I didn't choose this book for any particular reason except I liked the subtitle: The Quest for True Belonging and The Courage to Stand Alone. I've found, when the situation arises, I'm usually the one out there alone and speaking up. Alone and doing.

I listened to the audiobook read by Brene.  There were so many points where I just kept nodding my head. It's clear she does a lot of research for her books and has a lot of facts and points to back up her advice.

Here's an excerpt: https://brenebrown.com/blog/2017/09/07/braving-the-wilderness-excerpt/

One of the pieces of advice that I really appreciated was: It's easy to hate from far away. Get in close. She frames a lot of her advice in the context of where America is politically. This piece is very true. I have friends, great friends, whose political views are polar opposites of my views. But I don't hate them. I know them so well they might as well be family. But I shrug off our differences. So why is it so easy to get angry at strangers or the masses when they disagree? Because you haven't moved in close to them. Someone at a protest makes you angry? Move in and talk to them. It's such a novel concept except it's not. It should be common sense.

Her section on how we dehumanize people in order to make it easier to tear them down was difficult to read because of the truth. In big ways (Holocaust) and little ways we dehumanize others so we don't feel bad about how they are treated. Again, I'm shocked and not surprised we do this. And yes, the we includes myself. Some of the examples Brown gives hit a little too close to home.

I also appreciated the advice of Hold Hands With Strangers. Get in there and feel all the pain and all the joy. It connects humans better than social media. Being there, showing up, and listening is so important but rarely done.

I've been trying to take her advice to heart and make some improvements. Some days are much better than others, obviously, but imagine how things would work if everyone tried to just show up and be with their fellow man.

*insert hand holding and kumbaya singing*