Braving the Wilderness Lecture Notes

Vocabulary terms and definitions based on the lecture notes from Maya angelo and Brene Brown's Braving the Wilderness, focusing on belonging, self-worth, and the wilderness.

Maya angelo on Freedom

The realization that you belong no place, you belong every place, and you belong no place at all.

Three outcomes of broken self-worth

$1$. Seeking relief through numbing or inflicting pain; $2$. Denying pain and passing it down; $3$. Finding courage to own pain and developing empathy/compassion.

Silence (regarding children)

A dangerous state that allows children to construct stories that cast them as alone and unworthy of love and belonging.

Expert fitter in ( manager)

Using pattern recognition skills to anticipate what people want or think to show up the right way, resulting in becoming a lonely stranger to oneself.

Permission slip

A powerful intension setting method to give oneself permission to stop being serious or afraid and to be excited, goofy, and have fun.

Belonging

The innate human desire to be apart of something larger than us.

Hollow substitutes for belonging

Fitting in and seeking approval, which often act as barriers to true belonging.

True Belonging

Happens when we present our authentic, imperfect selves to the world; it can never be greater than our level of self-acceptance.

$4$ Elements of true belonging

$1$. People are hard to hate close up (move in); $2$. Speak truth to bull crap (be civil); $3$. Hold hands with strangers; $4$. Strong back. Soft front. Wild heart.

The Wilderness

An untamed, unpredictable place of solitude and searching characterized by belonging so fully to yourself that you are willing to stand alone.

Braving the wilderness

A practice that requires vulnerability, discomfort, and being present with people without sacrificing who we are.

Spiritual practice of true belonging

Believing in and belonging to yourself so deeply that you can share your authentic self wit the world and find sacredness in both being a part of something and standing alone.