Living Unabridged

A ladies' group that I've met with had considered reading Brene Brown's Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead.

As it turns out, my reading stack got the better of me and I didn't finish it before I had to return it. (Sorry, girls!) But a few lines had already jumped out into my commonplace book. I combined two of my favorite into this graphic:

In this day when "Authenticity" seems to be the highest virtue, being "vulnerable" is promoted.

I am a highly private person, and yet I'm a blogger and a writer who desires to speak in an authentic voice. And I have relationships and friendships with various people "in real life" that I want to see grow and flourish.

How do we balance our increasingly public lives (often via social media) with authenticity and vulnerability?

Boundaries are the answer, as ever.

Do you know someone with no boundaries? Or have you read blog posts that seem to lack boundaries? I'm guessing you have.

Not everyone has earned the right to be entrusted with our whole stories.

I'm going to be frank with you here: Unburdening yourself on people who are not equipped to handle your story is not vulnerability, it's selfishness.

As an INTJ, my natural boundaries may be higher than other personalities and that's OK: everyone doesn't (and needn't) draw their boundaries in the same places. But you do need to have some.

And if you thought you were just being authentic and yet it didn't build the relationship, but instead damaged it, you might want to consider the possibility that you shared something that the other party wasn't ready to process.

Now I'll step off my soapbox and get on with our usual Wednesday stuff.

Recently Finished

I finally finished The Soul of Science: Christian Faith and Natural Philosophy. This is a worthy book, but I feel like most of it went over my head. It's one of those books where I felt like I deserve a badge or something for finishing. That said, the last section of the book was my favorite section. (I can handle philosophy better than math.)
On our recent weekend trip I started and finished Clementine: The Life of Mrs. Winston Churchill. This has some great insight and is a fantastic addition to the Churchill bibliography at large.

Recently Added

My husband recently finished The Speechwriter: A Brief Education in Politicsand added it to my stack. He told me I could probably finish it in a day, but I have no idea when I'd have a day to dedicate to reading only this. {wink}

Current Read Aloud

The Cricket in Times Squareis our bedtime book.
The Children's Homerand
Greek Mythsby Ann Turnbull are our morning read alouds. The prose of The Children's Homer is excellent and the illustrations from Ann Turnbull's Greek Myths are so incredibly gorgeous. We're thoroughly enjoying both of these.

Current Book to Review

Still in a reviewing drought. Which is fine because my to-read stack is out of control.

Current Kindle Deals

The Case for Easter: A Journalist Investigates the Evidence for the Resurrectionby Lee Strobel is $1.99 right now.
A Twaddle-Free Education: An Introduction to Charlotte Mason's Timeless Educational Ideasis only $0.99.

What are you reading now? Or do you have any thoughts on the Authenticity / Boundary question?
More about being an INTJ:


Mystie's resource about personalities:


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