Book Review
Here's how to deal with imperfections, gain resilience
Berne Brown, author of I Thought It Was Just Me, again urges us to expose and expel our insecurities in order to have the most fulfilling life possible.
The point is to embrace life and oneself with all of its imperfections, releasing the stress of overdoing and overworking. Brown offers exercises for readers to plumb their own emotions and begin to develop the kind of resilience needed to stand up to unrealistic expectations of others and ourselves.
Gifts of Imperfection, her latest guidebook , is on the journey to wholehearted living, which she defines as containing courage, compassion, boundaries, and connection. She has defined 10 guideposts for personal introspection, which involve cultivating some positive qualities, such as authenticity, self-compassion, a resilient spirit, intuition, meaningful work, and a sene of humor.
Each guidepost is the focus of a chapter that contains illustrative stories, definitions, and quotes from such sources as Diane Ackerman and e.e. cummings, plus helpful suggestions.
This book's primary value may be in spurring thought and providing references to other authors that will provide inspiration for those seeking a more meaningful life.
A human-behavior researcher, Brown emphasizes that above all other ingredients of living an emotionally healthy life is the importance of loving ourselves.
During what she took to be a midlife crisis, Brown came to understand she was experiencing a "spiritual awakening" and worked to explore its significance and the interaction of knowing and understanding oneself.
She includes clinical observations on the work of living a "wholehearted" life, or "engaging in our lives from a place of worthiness."
The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You're Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Berne Brown,
Hazelton, (Amazon's # 1 best seller in "Spiritual Help.") $8.66 in paperback.
