By that I mean that she has the perfect combination of tough, yet kind and vulnerable. And frigging funny. She is not afraid to talk about real issues that so many people don’t even want to touch. If you want to have a real life you have to look at and talk about the things that hold you back. This could be one of her mantras. I truly believe that without sorting out the messy, uncomfortable parts of us we can not achieve happiness and cannot reach our true potential.
She is authentic and real.
There is no beating around the bush. She says it as it is. She looks at the bad, the ugly and the good. How can you look at anything from only one partial perspective? If you want to dig deep as she says it, you need to look at things from as many perspectives as you can. That is what makes her such a good writer and researcher. Her Texas charm and humour makes her down-to-earth-real and very practical.
She is smart and uses her research and her knowledge.
She keeps learning and is open to try new ideas. So many people stop learning because they think they know everything. In my opinion the smartest people keep learning for life. The only way to evolve is by learning and implementing new things. I read many stories of her learning new things and changing the deeply ingrained crap that isn’t working but holds her back.
She writes with humour.
She can write about some of the hardest things in a funny way. She makes me laugh a lot. I find humour essential in life. If we take everything serious we don’t have a full life. Sometimes her humour comes through in her tone, sometimes in the way she tells her story, other times just in her impish smirky-smile. Any way it shows up, I appreciate her humour.
She shares real stories.
Writing a book without real life stories would be boring especially when you write educational books like she does. She uses her stories in a great way to illustrate a point. They make things sound real as opposed to a theory or concept. She is a great storyteller even if she struggles with the idea of her being one. As much as she is a great academic she is also a wonderful story teller.
She shares her own stories.
So many people would never share their own stories even if their lives depended on it but it is exactly those stories we share that make us real and people learn from them as much as they do from data and statistics. However it takes courage to share our own stories and not everyone has that kind of courage. It was her admission to her breakdown, “spiritual awakening”, that attracted me to her work. As much as I like data I find it much more interesting when I hear it from real people like her.
She is respectful.
She talks about people with respect. I don’t remember putdowns, I don’t remember disrespectful comments about others. We do need to express those thoughts but I don’t think that putting them in a book and sharing them publicly is the respectful way of doing it. In a world where putdowns and shaming is done so often being respectful and kind means a lot.
I think this explains why I like Brene Brown’s videos, books and her style in general. What do you like about her?