A straightforward approach to revamping one's life from an expert on vulnerability.
Brown (Univ. of Houston Graduate College of Social Work; The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are, 2010, etc.) exposes and challenges some of the common myths surrounding vulnerability.
After more than a decade of research and hundreds of interviews, the author presents her findings on the concepts of shame, weakness and vulnerability. Defining vulnerability "as exposure, uncertainty, and emotional risk," the author maintains that this feeling is the crux of most of our meaningful experiences. Ultimately, she writes, it is not a weakness; everyone is vulnerable, we all need support via friends and family. Trust and vulnerability go hand in hand. Brown believes it is essential to expose oneself to a wide range of feelings in order to combat shame, break down the walls of perfectionism and stop the act of disengagement that separates many from themselves and others. By accepting her directives, readers will be engaged, gain a sense of courage and learn how to create meaningful connections with their children or fellow workers. "Rather than sitting on the sidelines and hurling judgment and advice,” she writes, “we must dare to show up and let ourselves be seen. This is vulnerability. This is daring greatly." When we choose to dare greatly, the rewards are vast: We feel more loved and are more loving, we feel worthy of that love, we choose our path and commit to it with daily practice, and we live with courage, engagement and a clear sense of purpose.
A straightforward approach to revamping one's life from an expert on vulnerability.Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-1-592-40733-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Gotham Books
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
Neo-Luddite/New Age pop apocalypticism from the author of Magical Child Matures (1985), The Bond of Power (1981), etc. There's precious little here that hasn't cropped up in Pearce's other books, reshuffled but adding up to the same old message: that we make the world that we inhabit (``our world is a construction of knowledge and each act of knowledge brings forth a world''), and that modern living is mucking it up. Human intelligence, says Pearce, consists of ``fields of potential'' ready to be awakened by the right ``model environment.'' Pearce looks at how this process unfolds in thinking, dreaming, sight, hearing, memory, and the like, finding support for his ideas in various New Age dogmas, as well as in the religious teachings of Castaneda and Muktananda. What emerges is a cogent if scientifically dicey sketch of the ``self-organization'' of perception. Upon this platform, Peace constructs a novel three-stage model of human development: heart-mind synchrony, which occurs in infancy; postadolescent synchrony of the physical self and the creative process, which few of us attain; and a final mystical stage, nearly unknown, that ``moves us beyond biology.'' Why do so few people reach the top of the ladder? Because our potential is poisoned by ``barbaric'' practices like circumcision and premature snipping of the umbilical cord. Pearce saves his worst news for blacks, a ``high percentage'' of whom are ``uneducable'' because of the ``psychic shock'' of not using midwives! As for children who squeak through infancy, they face such horrors as day care, TV, toy stores, and Little League, which ``prevent neural development'' or at least warp creativity. A singular theory of human development, placed on an attractive epistemological base and then eroded by technophobia, hyperbole (in proper birthing, ``our civilization, as well as our species, is at stake''), and hints of racism, until what remains seems curiously deformed—a jeremiad without common sense.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-06-250693-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1992
Peck's megahit, The Road Less Traveled (1978), offered cures for the psychospiritual ills of lone men and women; this does the same for human clusterings, large or small. As Peck (A Bed by the Window, 1990, etc.) sees it, society is an unholy mess. The reason? Loss of ``civility,'' defined as ``consciously motivated organizational behavior''—that is, the ability to behave with attention and love toward other human beings. The solution? Certainly not a ``return to Eden,'' which some seek through drugs or alcohol. Rather, the answer is painful evolution into a higher awareness of self and other. Peck speaks despairingly of the ``hole in the mind,'' which is our propensity to act unconsciously in organizations. To teach us how to plug the hole, Peck makes use of systems theory, management training, lessons drawn from his psychiatric practice and personal life, and heavy doses of religious insight. The bottom line here is God and his unconditional love for all human beings. God exalts us; our job is to accept and work with this elevated status. As individuals, this means finding the right job and doing it well. Peck offers useful advice on both accounts (the best way to husband time, he says, is to spend some of it doing nothing—that is, in prayer and meditation). As for organizational life, this begins for many people with marriage. Echoing the realism he sounded in Road, Peck sees the only good reasons for marriage as kids or ``friction,'' i.e., struggle that leads to new life. Business, too, must be rooted in ethics, in which management styles from authoritarian to consensual have a place. In closing, Peck details the work of his Foundation for Community Encouragement, which holds workshops on community-building in businesses and other organizations. A peck of hardheaded, kindhearted advice; the author's best since Road. (First printing of 100,000)
Pub Date: March 15, 1993
ISBN: 0-553-09307-X
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Bantam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
