Last summer, I bought Brene Brown’s book Braving the Wilderness with the idea of diving into it during a vacation week at the beach. I was 34 weeks pregnant at the time, and I wound up letting my mom borrow the book for the week.
This book may look worn, but it hasn’t actually been read…yet!
Shortly after we returned home, I went into early labor a month before my due date… and here I am 8 months later, finally beginning to have a few minutes here and there to read Braving the Wilderness a bit!
I’ve always loved to read, but these days I find myself with little time with two free hands. I mostly listen to audiobooks while I go for walks instead, but I still enjoy having a good old fashioned hard cover book between my hands – one that I can use my highlighter on to brightly neon code quotes that resonate with me.
I’ve listened to several of Brene’s books and workshops on audio, as well as watched her Netflix and TED talks. Brene just has a down to earth, eloquent way of discussing topics that each of us can relate to: mainly vulnerability, shame and fear. I’ve been inspired by her as I’ve recently been finding moments to soak up the pages of Braving the Wilderness – last week I took a bath and read a chapter, this week while feeding my baby a bottle, I managed to turn some pages – and today I’m sharing some inspiring Brene Brown quotes about living boldly.
1.) “Don’t take criticism from people who aren’t being brave with their own lives.”
– The Netflix special, ‘The Call to Courage’
In Brene’s Netflix special, she finishes this thought by concluding, “If you are not in the arena, getting your ass kicked and rejected, I am not interested in your feedback about my work.” In Rising Strong she echoes this sentiment, insisting that we need to be selective about the feedback we let into our lives.
2.) “True belonging is the spiritual practice of believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your most authentic self with the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone in the wilderness. True belonging doesn’t require you to change who you are; it requires you to be who you are.”
– Braving the Wilderness
3.) “Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing we’ll ever do.”
– Rising Strong
4.) “Integrity is choosing courage over comfort; choosing what is right over what is fun, fast, or easy; and choosing to practice our values rather than simply professing them.”
– Rising Strong
5.) “Vulnerability is hard and it’s scary and it feels dangerous. But it’s not as hard, or scary or dangerous as getting to the end of our lives and having to ask ourselves: What if I would’ve shown up? What if I would’ve said ‘I love you?’ What if I would’ve come off the blocks? Show up, be seen, answer the call to courage and come off the blocks. Because you’re worth it—you’re worth being brave.”
– ‘The Call to Courage’
In her Netflix special, Brene sums up a story about her daughter competing in a swim competition she had no shot of winning with the above quote. It’s not about always winning, it’s about showing up and showing heart.
6.) “There are too many people today who instead of feeling hurt are acting out their hurt; instead of acknowledging pain, they’re inflicting pain on others. Rather than risking feeling disappointed, they’re choosing to live disappointed. Emotional stoicism is not badassery. Blustery posturing is not badassery.
Swagger is not badassery. Perfection is about the furthest thing in the world from badassery.”
– Rising Strong
7.) “To know shame is to be human. And to have the capacity for empathy is also to be human.”
– Men, Women, and Worthiness: The Experience of Shame and the Power of Being Enough
8.) “You’re imperfect, and you’re wired for struggle, but you are worthy of love and belonging.”
– ‘The Power of Vulnerability’ TED Talk
9.) “I want to be in the arena. I want to be brave with my life. And when we make the choice to dare greatly, we sign up to get our asses kicked. We can choose courage or we can choose comfort, but we can’t have both. Not at the same time. Vulnerability is not winning or losing; it’s having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome. Vulnerability is not weakness; it’s our greatest measure of courage.”
– Rising Strong
With my daughter Camryn on vacation in March
10.) “Who we are is a much more accurate predictor of how our kids will do than what we know or understand about the science of parenting.”
– The Gifts of Imperfect Parenting
As a new mom, I love learning about research on child development and parenting techniques. I enjoyed Brene’s book on parenting, and the above quote is a good reminder that how us parents behave and live on a daily basis is the best model for raising decent humans.
Tell me… Which of these quotes most resonate with you? What have you been reading/listening to lately?
I would go with the last one about parenting! Now with 2 adultish kids that speaks to me. Hope you are all doing well
I have to admit that I’m not familiar with Brene Brown, but these quotes are truly great. The one about integrity really resounds with me. It’s good to remember this quote when faced with a tough decision – and it’s even tougher knowing that the right decision may lead to losing friends, etc. Either way, thanks for the inspiration on this Tuesday morning!
I love the quote about parenting — it’s so true! We parents are the people that influence our kids the most. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. LOL Thanks for the great quotes Nicole — they’re very inspiring!