Alright, let me just start by saying… January was the perfect month to remind us that LIFE HAPPENS… and that’s okay! There’s 11 people in my Book Club that I’ve organized (I was pleasantly surprised how many people were interested in joining!), and we were down to 4 (including myself) for last month’s meeting. For various reasons, we ended up canceling our first meeting. I know, I know… it looks like a bad start, but I’m not worried! When 3 people have to cancel last minute due to illness, its probably a sign…
I committed to updating you on our thoughts on the last book after each meeting, and then let you know what the next book is… and I intend to do that… well at least my thoughts this time. The first 72 pages were challenging for me to get through… I don’t know why but it really was… I think Brown has a bit of a repetitive writing style and that’s a little hard for me. BUT, then all of a sudden everything in it started making so much sense, the examples were so applicable to my life, and I finished feeling like I’d learned an immense amount of information that can help various aspects of my life in so many ways (and some information that just made me think… “so that’s why I feel that way.”)
So here’s a VERY short sampling of topics from Brene Brown’s Braving the Wilderness:
- This whole Black Lives Matter vs. Blue Lives Matter vs. All Lives Matter movement. I’ve personally struggled with this a lot, and she explains where that discomfort comes from
- Maya Angelou’s quote: “You are only free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place — no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.” This is a big starting point for her book.
- Interviews with amazing people who have gone through a ton and yet have handled life in such powerful ways
- Why it is that we can feel lonely even surrounded by tons of people?
- That love of humanity that comes from shared experiences… think sporting events or concerts, even while we as a whole are having such hard times connecting with others in today’s political environment
- Truly listening; looking for how to move forward rather than finding a winner
- “You’re either with us or against us” and all the assumptions that comes with that train of thought
- What fear does to all of us and how that relates to humanity and terrorism
- How to effectively communicate with people who are spewing bullshit (yes, she uses that word!)
Did I peak your interest? Obviously you have to read the book to see what those bullet points mean. With my warning in mind, I would still TOTALLY recommend this book. I swear. I heard from a few others that they were also dragging themselves to continue reading but around that 70 page mark, it seems to pick up pace quite a bit and I truly feel like the lessons and even just ways she described feelings I’ve previously had but never been able to explain in a comprehensive way is amazing. Kuddos to you, Brown!
Our next book is The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. I’ve probably read this book at least 5 times and may or may not re-read it. BUT it is so amazing that I felt like it would be wonderful for anyone who hasn’t read it to do so, AND there’s a quiz you can take to help identify your own love language and that’s always so interesting to talk about. As you can tell, this is a bit of a “light reading” month since we still have to talk about Braving the Wilderness at our February meeting. ALSO, it’s a short month… so… yeah.
Buy The 5 Love Languages by clicking here. I found it cheapest at Target!
Take the 5 Love Languages quiz by clicking here.
Perhaps in future posts I’ll be able to give you guys more information about recurring thoughts that came up in our meeting (as in, what struck members as most important or most critical), but for January’s book, I figured I’d just share topics that really stuck out to me.
Let me know what books you’re reading! If you have any great suggestions I’d love to hear them!
