Braving Midlife

Ah, bravery. The stuff of legends, heroics, and… Glennon Doyle’s latest self-help revelation, Untamed. If you’ve ever wondered what it truly means to be brave, Doyle is here to dismantle your knight-in-shining-armor fantasies and replace them with something a bit more… well, untamed.

So, what is bravery according to Glennon Doyle? Spoiler alert: It’s not rescuing a damsel in distress or facing off against a fire-breathing dragon. No, it’s more like rescuing yourself from your own distress and facing off against the fire-breathing dragon that is societal expectations.

Doyle tells us that bravery isn’t about fearlessness; it’s about feeling the fear and doing it anyway. Picture this: you’re standing on the edge of a metaphorical cliff, heart racing, palms sweaty, and instead of turning back, you leap. Not because you’re an adrenaline junkie, but because you’ve decided that your life is worth the freefall.

In Untamed, Doyle shares her journey of untangling herself from the metaphorical straightjacket of societal norms. She dives headfirst into the abyss of her true self, which, let’s be honest, sounds terrifying. It’s like deciding to go camping in the wilderness without Wi-Fi or an air mattress. But according to Doyle, that’s where the real adventure begins.

One of the book’s standout moments is when Doyle describes bravery as the ability to sit with our own discomfort. That’s right, folks: bravery is not slaying dragons but sitting quietly with your own existential dread and making small talk. It’s saying no to things that don’t serve you, which, if you’re a chronic people-pleaser, might as well be the equivalent of saying no to free pizza.

Doyle also talks about bravery in the context of being true to oneself. This means listening to that inner voice, the one that’s usually drowned out by Netflix binges and Instagram scrolls. According to Doyle, bravery is about tuning in to that voice and acting on it, even when it’s inconvenient or makes you look weird. Like, “Hey, I think I want to quit my job and start a llama farm.” Weird? Yes. Brave? Absolutely.

In a particularly amusing anecdote, Doyle likens her brave moments to those of a wild cheetah. Because if there’s one thing that screams bravery, it’s imagining yourself as a wild, untamed beast. Just don’t take the metaphor too literally and start hunting antelopes at your local zoo. That’s not brave, it’s just illegal.

So, what’s the takeaway from Glennon Doyle’s Untamed? Bravery is messy, uncomfortable, and often misunderstood. It’s about reclaiming your wild, true self from the clutches of societal expectations and having the guts to live your truth, even if it means being the odd one out at the PTA meeting. It’s less about roaring like a lion and more about purring contentedly like a cat who’s finally figured out how to open the treat drawer.

In the end, Doyle teaches us that bravery isn’t about being fearless; it’s about being fearfully authentic.

So go ahead, be brave, be untamed, and maybe, just maybe, let your inner cheetah loose—just steer clear of the zoo.

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