BlogHer Book Club: Daring Greatly

I heard Brene Brown speak a couple years ago at a blog conference.  She stuck with me - and not just because she has such a unique name.  She had a commanding presence, and she has a powerful viewpoint, one that continued in her just-released book Daring Greatly.

We spend so much of our lives trying to proves to others and to ourselves that we can do it all, that we can be everything, that we are strong.  And we aren't, always.  Nor should we be, which is the main point of her book.  Daring Greatly dares us to embrace our vulnerability, to admit where we aren't as strong as the face we put to the world.

Using 12 years of research, Dr. Brown makes the case that our vulnerability is actually what makes us strong - when we acknowledge it.  Vulnerability is what allows us to live our lives, from experiencing the deepest pain to soaring with the highest joy and everywhere in between.  Without allowing vulnerability in our lives, we aren't really living our lives as fully as we ought.

This is a powerful book.  It isn't really a self-help book, but it's visionary.  The book is footnoted throughout with Dr. Brown's and other research, but she also puts her own self and life across the chapters, giving us examples of exactly what she's talking about and making it that much more real.

Life isn't a guarantee, much as we want one.  In this book, Dr. Brown encourages us to go with the lack of guarantee and take on that feeling of vulnerability to live more fully and - ideally - more happily.  I dare you to do it.

Brene Brown is also doing a book tour this fall.  If you can, don't miss the opportunity to see her in person. It's worth it!  Want to keep the conversation going?  On BlogHer, we're talking about her book for the next month.  This week, we're talking about vulnerability hangovers.  Have you ever had one?  Do you even know what that is?

In the interest of full disclosure, this was part of a compensated campaign as part of the BlogHer Book Club.  That said, all opinions remain my own.