Welcome to the comments and discussion of Chapter 2: Civilization Stops at the Waterline of the book, Rising Strong by Brené Brown! Catch up on Chapter 1: The Physics of Vulnerability.
Let’s get started! Chapter 2!
This chapter focused on the mess in the middle…that part in every story when the internal battles are happening, the solution forms itself, and the really hard work happens. I can relate to this in so many ways. My personal struggles with cancer, caregiving, and survivorship, as well as my professional life, have had many a messy middle. This middle part is where “the protagonist looks for every comfortable way to solve the problem. By the climax, he learns what it’s really going to take to solve the problem. This act includes the “lowest of the low.”
This middle is where the second guessing happens, where we internally debate the “right” and “wrong” ways to handle something (or to ignore something). Brené relates this story process with the process of Rising Strong. In the Rising Strong process, the middle part is the Rumble. The part where honesty is a must, where growth is inevitable, and where we learn just a little bit more about this journey of being human.
Stories can be big and small. They can be the process of our morning, a big change at work, a move across the country. Big or small, being honest with ourselves and allowing the middle part to happen, not glossing over it hoping for an easy fix or a quick ending, is essential to learning how to Rise Strong.
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Thanks for joining us for our Chapter 2: Civilization Stops at the Waterline of Rising Strong! Join in next Monday for Chapter 3: Owning Our Stories and in the meantime, learn more about the book club commentators!
If you’re just joining us, here are some logistics:
We will talk about a chapter each Monday until the book is done. Then, we’ll use one more Monday to talk about general feelings from the book and anything else you’d like to discuss. Join in, in the comments every week! At the end, we’ll have a book club discussion via video chat! Also, there will probably be spoilers. Read along with us!
How are you enjoying our young adult cancer book club?
