Recommended Reads

Braving the Wilderness – Brené Brown

This is a book about being brave enough to show up as you truly are.  It’s about understanding you are enough.  And it’s ultimately about having the guts to stand for who you are, for what your truth is – knowing that while this will leave you feeling exposed, it is your path to real belonging.

Brown’s reputation precedes her – with her TED talk on The Power of Vulnerability being viewed over 30 million times.  At once confronting and inspiring, what is most compelling about this book is Brown’s willingness to share her struggles, which are our own struggles, to fit in and belong in the world. While we didn’t all grow up in Texas, we have our own heartaches of trying hard to fit in, of getting it wrong and of trying to protect ourselves from pain. We understand that it is risky and lonely to speak up, to be different and to stand alone. 

It’s a risk we are not necessarily willing to take. Yet this book left me with a promise of hope that seems worthy of the risks; of knowing what it means to belong to yourself and to be who you are.

“True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are”.