#EscapeWithImani: Untamed by Glennon Doyle
Welcome to the first installment of Escape with Imani! If you have no idea what I’m talking about, read this short post first. Let’s jump right in.
First on my list is Untamed by Glennon Doyle. Before I talk about the book itself, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the beautiful cover art.
My Reading Essentials
I love to get lost in a good book! My reading essentials are pictured here: the book (of course), green tea (two bags, please), a highlighter, a candle, and a bookmark.
There are times when I visit Barnes & Noble, roaming the aisles and looking for a new book to read. I always grab the books with the most eye-catching cover art! So, between Untamed’s cover art, along with the stamp of approval from Reese’s [Witherspoon] Book Club, I picked up this book with high expectations.
This book exceeded my expectations.
Summary
Untamed contains short stories about Doyle’s life. Each story supports the underlying theme of becoming untamed by demonstrating different steps and stages of Doyle’s (successful) attempts to reject societal standards and expectations.
This book is timely for me as I learn to forgo standards and expectations — whether self-imposed or imposed upon me — and forge my own. This book made it easy to jump in and escape from reality. Doyle is a well-written writer. She invites and entices you with each story. As a reader, you feel as though you are a close and welcome onlooker to her life lessons.
Just as Doyle navigates life to challenge societal norms and expectations, I feel empowered to challenge expectations I face in life.
Memorable Passages
Here are a few passages or sentences that resonated with me:
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“Tish [Doyle’s daughter] is sensitive, and that is her superpower. The opposite of sensitive is not brave. It’s not brave to refuse to pay attention, to refuse to notice, to refuse to feel and know and imagine. The opposite of sensitive is insensitive, and that’s no badge of honor.” (Page 15)
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“When women lose themselves, the world loses its way. We do not need more selfless women. What we need right now is more women who have detoxed themselves so completely from the world’s expectations that they are full of nothing but themselves.” (Page 75)
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“I have everything I need, beneath me, above me, inside me. I am never gonna lose me.” (Page 146)
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“May we all live in communities where every person’s truest Self is both held and free.” (Page 203)
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“Be careful with the stories you tell about yourself.” (Page 257)
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“If we cannot forgive and move on, perhaps we need to move on first, and forgiveness will follow. Forgiveness does not mean access. We can give the other person the gift of forgiveness and ourselves the gift of safety and freedom at the very same time.” (Page 283)
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“Five pro tips for those who live too high and too low: 1. Take your damn meds. 2. Keep taking your damn meds. 3. Take notes. 4. Know your buttons. 5. Remember that we are the best people.” (Page 275-279)
Recommended
I highly recommend this book if you are on a similar journey or approaching a new stage in life. Here's why: this book provides endless inspirational quotes.
Not Recommended
I would not recommend if you are not interested in non-fiction stories.
Have you read this book? If so, what did you think about it?