Gifts of Imperfection is a guide to help others find their true selves, instead of trying to be what they think they should be or what who want others to perceive them as. Brené Brown has committed a decade of her career researching those feelings that we do not want to admit that we experience on a daily basis. Shame is one of those emotions. Shame is defined as the intensely painful feeling or experience of believing that we are flawed and therefore unworthy of love and belonging (Brown, 2010). Brown has taken the time to research shame and normalize it as part of our daily lives as well as how to recover from it. In doing so, this helps people like you and me to live “Wholeheartedly”. Wholehearted living is described as living life from…show more content… When we think about courage, the first word that comes to our mind is a hero or being heroic, however, it is simply being able to put our vulnerability on the line (Brown, 2010). In the process, we are able to let go of what others may think about us. For example, it takes courage to tell others that you are struggling financially and don’t have funds to feed your children. In this example, the person is not doing anything heroic, but simply being vulnerable in order to receive help. If pride was used as a defense mechanism in order to hide the shame from others may think that they may have felt the situation could probably get worse over time. That’s the beauty of courage; vulnerability can yield blessings and new opportunities. It also allows us to be true to ourselves instead of trying to keep up with the status…show more content… In some ways, it is showing mercy and empathy towards the present circumstance. Brené Brown takes this perspective a little bit further when she encountered an American Buddhist. She learned, in my perspective, that instead of using compassion as an aspect of someone on outside looking in on a situation providing help, we actually to jump in the ring (the situation) with the individual, couple, or family. We are able to embrace their pain by allowing ourselves to be vulnerable in order to help them overcome their opposition. I love when she stated, “compassion is not a relationship between the healer and the wounded. It’s a relationship between equals” (Brown, 2010, p. 16). It is understood that we are to be able to meet people where they are and accept them for it. Brown states that the “heart of compassion is acceptance” cite. I am you, and you are me, in some aspect of
