To truly belong somewhere, we don't need to change who we are, we need to be ourselves. In a society characterized by the effort to please everyone, and with the erosion of the kindness that surrounds us, it is easy to remain silent, to hide in our ideological prisons, or to do everything to fit in, instead of being present with our authentic selves and defying the wild wilderness of uncertainty and criticism.

The true sense of belonging is not something we negotiate or achieve with others: it is a daily practice that requires consistency and integrity from us. It is a personal commitment that we carry in our hearts.
Through four practices, Brené Brown offers us the clarity and courage we need to find our way back to ourselves, as well as to the people around us. And this journey goes straight through the wild wilderness. "The wilderness," Brown writes, "is an untamed and unpredictable place, full of loneliness and searching.

It is a place as dangerous as it is exhilarating, which seems to be the cradle of true belonging."

The four practices of true belonging require us to embrace vulnerability, even discomfort, and to learn to coexist with the people around us without sacrificing who we are and what we consider important.
Each practice calls us to challenge what we believe about ourselves, to be present in the lives of others, and to rediscover the path of courage and meaningful connection and communication.
The truth about who we are lives in our hearts. The act of courage we have to do is to protect our defiant hearts from constant evaluation - especially our own.