Summary
Imagine you are at lunch with dear friends. In the course of conversation, one friend says something that clangs against your heart. Maybe it’s political. It might be something religious or spiritual. Maybe it’s about race or sexuality or guns. Whatever it is, it clangs. And now you have a choice. Speak up or stay quiet? There are risks to both.
Speaking up can lead to conflict. You may discover that none of these friends agree with you, and you’ll be vulnerable and stick out.
You can pretend to agree and go along with the crowd. But then you have to live with your own conscience. And with the knowledge that this situation will likely come up again.
Or you can stay silent or change the subject. Avoid the discomfort.
It can be difficult to negotiate these kinds of situations. We have to decide which is more intolerable – risking our sense of belonging in the group or risking our sense of being honest and true to our own beliefs.
This is the core of Braving the Wilderness by Brené Brown.
Review
This was excellent! I loved the social research pieces because I love learning about things like that. I love when my brain gets to think critically and analytically. But the writing style and tone of this is conversational and relate-able. It’s not technical or full of jargon.
The material really clicked for me. I have had experiences in the last few years where I felt I was “braving the wilderness” in a variety of settings and circumstances. From something as simple as a lunch conversation to leaving a job I loved, I’ve had moments where I’ve chosen to be vulnerable and to take a stand, and those can be lonely times. This book affirmed those moments while also challenging me to check my motives and my methods. It also showed me other places where I might need to take a stand and how to do that in a genuine, honoring way.
My copy of this book is full of dogeared pages and underlining, stars and exclamation points. There are fantastic quotes from Brené and others I want to revisit. I highly recommend this book to all readers! (Some language)