Reflection Essay Sample: Braving the Wilderness

The questions that I will be doing my Braving the Wilderness reflection on are questions four and five. Question four is, “Brown says that navigating the many paradoxes of true belonging is a challenging practice. It requires that people: Establish clear boundaries in order to experience greater compassion and empathy. Allow and transform their anger. Acknowledge emotional (bullshit) responses with compassion and civility. Share deeply personal, emotional responses in community with strangers. Approach the practice of true belonging with strength and vulnerability. What are your personal experiences with these paradoxes?  Do you agree that they are challenging to navigate? Why or why not?” 

My personal experiences with these paradoxes do make me believe and agree with Brown when she calls them a challenging practice. In my opinion, I think every single paradox that Brown states is challenging. I think at times it is very difficult to establish clear boundaries that help with experiencing better compassion. My personal experience with this is that my roommate would invite people over before going out while I was in bed. I didn’t care too much until I found out they were going through my closet looking for clothes to wear, and wearing them out without asking. At first it was hard to confront her about it because she was new to me. But once we got close we set boundaries and I asked her to just ask me before they start going through my stuff. Since then, our understanding of each other’s feelings and boundaries have improved. I also think it can be difficult to allow and transform one’s anger. I don’t have a personal experience with this one but when people get angry I sometimes don’t know what to do. Which, in my opinion, would make it difficult to try to transform their anger. The same goes with the Acknowledge emotional (bullshit) responses with compassion and civility paradox. I think this can be very challenging. If someone is giving me an emotional (bullshit) response, in my head, I immediately want to give them an emotional (bullshit) response right back. An example of this is when I found out that my sister hid her engagement from me and my family. I confronted her and she came up with an emotional (bullshit) response and in my head, I gave her one right back. Instead of saying it out loud, I just proceeded to walk away. This is definitely something I need to work on, but I also believe that many other people share the same reaction. For the share deeply personal, emotional responses in community with strangers paradox, I think that would be very tough for introverts like myself. I tend to keep to myself when around strangers, let alone I wouldn’t share my personal responses with them. The last paradox is approach the practice of true belonging with strength and vulnerability. I hate being vulnerable but when it comes to true belonging, being vulnerable is very important in my opinion. I believe this because being vulnerable allows you to accept and embrace different aspects of yourself. When it comes to being vulnerable with others, it can deepen your compassion, and connection to others in your life.

Question five is, “The BRAVING practices Brown introduces are trust-building strategies. Do you believe that it is more important to apply these strategies with others or with the self?” The BRAVING practices stand for boundaries, reliability, accountability, confidentiality, integrity, non-judgment, and generosity. In my opinion, it is so important to apply these practices to yourself along with others. But I feel like it is more important apply them to yourself. It is important to set boundaries for yourself because it can help you monitor your own behavior along with creating a healthy life structure. Boundaries also are important because they stop you from saying yes when you’d rather say no. Being reliable with yourself is important because when you can rely on yourself, you can become more independent. Becoming independent teaches you that you don’t need other people’s opinion and can just rely that you’re making the best decision for yourself. Because you are the person who knows you the best. Confidentiality is important with yourself because you shouldn’t feel obligated that you have to tell everything to someone. It is okay to keep those thoughts and stories to yourself. Having integrity with yourself is important because it helps make you feel more at peace. It also makes you feel more secure and confident in who you truly are. In my opinion, I feel like people with high integrity tend to have high morals and will stick to them. The importance of non-judgment with yourself is that if you’re not judging yourself, your self-esteem will increase. Judging yourself just has a huge impact on your well-being and mental health. Not judging yourself, will help you learn not to judge others. Lastly, being generous to yourself is important because it can help your mental health. It can lower your negative emotions, including hopelessness, depression, and anxiety. You become satisfied with what you have in life and a more positive outlook in life.