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Saturday, March 22, 2014

spring online book club pick

image courtesy of life in style

thank you for reading along with our online book club. i hope you enjoyed winter's pick and gained solid takeaways for tranquility at work.

i'm over the moon to announce the spring tranquility du jour online book club pick . . . the gifts of imperfection: let go of who you think you're supposed to be and embrace who you are. i debated between this one and her recent book, daring greatly. i'm loving both!

i was first introduced to brene at the 2012 world domination summit and was smitten. since then i've come across her numerous times in conversation, on book shelves, and in the oprah e-course. her message is riveting and i find myself underlining most of what i read. it's truly juicy stuff!

already read the book? pick it up again and share your thoughts. ready to dive in? pick up the book and share how it's having an impact. may we all embrace our gifts of imperfection. i look forward to sharing this journey together.


reminder: to participate in our online book club, simply click the book image on the far right of the blog to share your thoughts, challenges, and insights regarding our chosen read. merci for reading along.

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9 comments:

From Drab to Fab said...

Yay! Been meaning to read this! xo

Anonymous said...

Hello! How do I join the online book club? I have clicked on the book on the right hand side tab but it only takes me to this page! Thank you!

kimberly wilson said...

you're in the right place. here's where you join the discussion!

reminder: to participate in our online book club, simply click the book image on the far right of the blog to share your thoughts, challenges, and insights regarding our chosen read.

share insights here in the comments section! x

Fran said...

I am 3/4 of the way through this book, and It is so deep, I love that she combines her research and also real life examples. I also think it is one of those books that can be read and re-read and I will discover something new in it. I think when I am finished I will go back and pick one chapter that and work on it.
Thank-you for the resources I look forward to delving into them when I have finished the book.

Molly said...

I finished the book. I love how open she is with her own struggles. Makes her a lot more relatable. I especially appreciated her perspective on "numbing" which is something that I have been known to do in the past when things are hard. A light bulb went off for me in that section.

Love the quote she shared from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: "People are like stained glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within."

This has encouraged me to try to let my inner light shine more.

-Molly
http://rebelyogaonline.com

Leah Probst said...

Brown does a masterful job at explaining the reasons why people strive for perfection and how perfectionism limits our bonds with others. Perfectionism also limits our bond with our authentic selves. How can we experience tranquility if we're pretending to be perfect, when perfectionism is an unrealistic standard that we can never attain? Tranquility doesn't bloom when we're perfect; rather, it blooms when we're authentic.

Now that I've read Brown's ten guideposts for cultivating love and belonging in our lives, I'm excited about practicing the guideposts in my own life. Brown provides personal stories that illustrate her awareness of her own perfectionism, and in doing so she opens up to her own vulnerability and provides examples that I can relate to. The guidepost that jumped out at me was cultivating play (#7), which I've never thought about before as time spent without purpose. Play is the birthplace of creativity.

I enjoyed Brown's conversational writing style, which made the book easy to understand and quick to read. She presents information about shame and vulnerability in a convincing way because she cites her research in these areas. She effectively cites other expert sources and includes inspirational quotes that nurture the reader's exploration of imperfection. Although I borrowed this book from the library, I want to buy my own copy to reread key passages -- like her definitions of connection, perfectionism, shame, and others. I'm also interested in reading her follow-up book, Daring Greatly.

Dawn said...

I had read Daring Greatly, and loved it. So I was interested to read this one, and just finished. I really enjoyed the book. So many good takeaways!

Since reading, have been working on letting myself get excited about things in life. I usually try hard to stay calm, out of fear of being let down. But as she points out, if things don't go your way it will hurt regardless, so you might as well get excited and feel the joy! Rather than anticipating the worst. (And if people know you were excited, they are more likely to commiserate if the worst happens.)

Definitely one I will have to reread.

Unknown said...

I signed up a free 30 day trial of Oyster Books, it's an app that allows you to read as many books as you want for $9.95 a month. Brene Brown's book, "The Gifts of Imperfection is in my queue to read. I'm reading this dring my vacation. I'm also like the Oyster app thus far, there's an Android and iPad app.

kimberly wilson said...

thank you all for sharing your feedback on this pick. i love her message and am delighted to see it resonated with you, too! x