3 takeaways from Glennon Doyle’s Untamed

Since I’ve been a member of the library in Arnhem I’ve been reading a lot more. Mostly non fiction. Books about marketing, starting a business, the stock market. I think I read about Glennon Doyle’s book Untamed in a blog post, but can’t remember where. It’s about how Glennon decides to find her way back to herself, her own identity before society told her how to be. She tells this story by talking about her personal experiences and things she had to overcome to where she is now. This book made me reconsider a lot of things about life, how I would like to live it and especially how to get there. Here are my three main takeaways from Untamed.

Identity by design, not by default

Society’s way doesn’t have to fit you. Society’s way is the default, but it doesn’t have to be your setting. You can be your authentic self, always. Because pretending to be someone or something else only makes you unhappy. And anyway, what are we doing, we only have one life to live. I say why waste it by not being ourselves and find a way to be truly happy? By finding out who you really are and what you actually want and desire in your life you can create your own life without having to think about what the default is.

Social media effects your own perspective and creativity

For me being on social media is almost always a need for distraction at that moment. And the thing is that it never gives me what I actually need. Sometimes when I stop looking at my phone I realize how fully focused I was. Sometimes I’m amazed by it, because it wasn’t anything special or that interesting I was looking at. Being on social media a lot of the time impacts my creativity and unique perspective. I literally don’t have the time to be creative, I am influenced by what others are doing and I don’t create space for my own thoughts.

Stillness helps you know yourself

Silence helps you to think about and especially feel how you’re doing at that moment. Glennon says you find your ‘Knowing’, your inner wisdom, by being still and connecting to what’s inside you. That way you feel what you actually want. In a fast paced environment in which we have to be ‘on’ all the time it’s not easy to be still with your thoughts. It’s also not easy if there is pain you haven’t dealt with yet. But pain means growth and moving through it is the only way for that to happen.

The book reminded me again about what I find important, not what is important to the world. Which is why I recommend this book to all women. Just to remember how fierce we are and what we are capable of in this world.