Reclaiming Who We Are
Issue No. 7: Speak Your Truth and Live Boldly With Glennon Doyle's "Untamed"
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“Untamed” by Glennon Doyle made such a big impact on me when I first read it. At the time we were just caught at the start of the pandemic and the book was heavily marketed on social media, and I have to admit, I was influenced to purchase it. However, it is one of my favorite purchases - the book lived up to my expectations and even went beyond.
Doyle offers incredible wisdom throughout the book, and it’s no wonder that it was such a hit, especially within the female demographic. It’s a book that very much inspires you to take your life into your own hands, even when things don’t go as planned. The book is part memoir, and as a result, you’ll get to read about Doyle choosing to dismantle her life to rebuild a new one, which resulted in her living more authentically.
This book inspired me, as there were times when I felt the need to reinvent myself and often worried about the judgment that would come to pass as a result. However, reading this book gave me the confidence to navigate what I felt was the best course of action rather than only focusing on living a life within the parameters that were set for me by society and its culture.
As Glennon Doyle says, it is better to reclaim who you are and abandon the parameters of society so that we may stop abandoning ourselves.
In this email we’ll cover:
The Book of The Week
Quotes and Questions to Reflect On
Insights and Inspiration
“This life is mine alone. So I have stopped asking people for directions to places they’ve never been.” - Glennon Doyle, Untamed
What’s New?
Book of the Week:
Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Genre:
Memoir/ Non-Fiction/ Self-Help
Synopsis:
Untamed is both a powerful memoir as well as a call to action for many women. The book touches on various experiences and thought processes that Doyle underwent, which gave her the inspiration for this book. The book delves into themes of liberation, self-discovery, and living authentically as a result.
She shares her anecdotes in which she discusses how she felt about society, religion and cultural expectations imposing their beliefs onto her life. When she met her wife for the first time, she was set on a transformational journey in which she questioned the direction of her life and whether or not this was authentic to who she was. These questions led to an understanding that society’s imposing beliefs and expectations weren’t the right fit for her.
Her memoir looks into the journey she underwent, which ultimately resulted in her reclaiming her voice and identity. Although she struggled through some parts of that journey, she was able to see it through. This book now encourages other women to explore beyond the set boundaries that have been established for us and asks readers to discover their wild selves.
Why We Love It:
I think that it’s vital to have access to this type of content as it gives the reader permission to acknowledge our inner truth while still acknowledging that it can be hard. When one person starts to acknowledge what we have yet to express, it gives readers the words to identify the emotions that they are going through. Perhaps readers may even have suppressed their thoughts and feelings to the point where they’ve forgotten about them. This book, like many others, gives voice to what we may already subconsciously feel is true but reading it, gives us the vocabulary to address our thoughts directly.
Abandoning ourselves can happen so easily when we’re not paying attention to our callings in life, to appease our environment and society whether we are female or not. However, how would our life look if we were to abandon those expectations? What would that life look like, and are we ready to take those next steps towards living more authentically?
Authenticity is such a complex concept to grasp because many of us rely on our environment to indicate which direction we should be focused on. But what I’ve noticed among women in recent years particularly, is the need to establish and lean into our autonomy. We’re beginning to question the trajectory that women as a whole have been placed on, and we’re starting the conversation of whether or not that trajectory is in our best interest.
This is an amazing book to get started on if you feel that you resonate with those thoughts. It will help you question whether or not you are truly answering your calling, and reassure you that yes, we can do hard things.
Quotes and Questions To Reflect On
Quote of the Week:
“I will not stay, not ever again - in a room or conversation or relationship or institution that requires me to abandon myself.”
― Glennon Doyle, Untamed
Reflection Questions:
What does living authentically mean to you?
How do you currently define success and happiness? Do these definitions align with your true desires and values?
Are there areas of your life where you feel you are not fully expressing your true self?
Extra Content:
Insights and Inspiration
Author Spotlight:
This Week’s Featured Author:
Glennon Doyle
Background:
Glennon Doyle is an author, activist and founder of an all-women-led non-profit organization called Together Rising, which focuses on philanthropy for women and children in crisis. She was an elementary school teacher before she became a writer, and was inspired to start writing to help her maintain her sobriety, which required her to tell her truth. She has written several books as a result, and is currently best known for her book Untamed. The book garnered much success being listed as a #1 New York Times Bestseller, as well as being listed as one of the reads for Reese Witherspoon’s book club.
Her other novels can be found below:
Other Works:
Love Warrior
Carry On, Warrior: Thoughts on Life Unarmed
Beyond the Book:
Closing Remarks
Living authentically requires us to acknowledge every part of ourselves so that we know how far we have to go to get to where we want to be. It also requires courage to fully embrace those wants to begin with, especially if they don’t fall within the parameters of what’s expected of us.
Doyle’s book in that regard can very much help us begin that journey towards self-acceptance and in some way, permit us to allow ourselves to want what is best for us. As Drew Barrymore mentions above, this book has the potential to set us free from these subliminal constraints so that we can be fully present in our lives.
I always feel that fully engaging in our lives by allowing ourselves to feel all of our emotions and experiences will help us become stronger. The more we learn to expand our comfort zone and build on our character, the more we can ‘do hard things.’ It will not only give us the confidence to move forward with our intentions but also give us a more clear indication of where we would like to go.
It is ok to change your mind, and it is ok to start over - these are our lives. Since we are responsible for the outcome, we should have the right to make the decisions that will then impact that outcome.
Until Next Time!
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Keep living life on your terms!
Warm regards,
June Tara
Founder of Spark Siren