Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive

 

Permission to Feel: Unlocking the Power of Emotions to Help Our Kids, Ourselves, and Our Society Thrive by Marc Brackett

Pages: 304

Rating: 4 out of 5

This book combines science, psychology, passion and inspiration in equal parts to teach anyone how to identify and manage their emotions. Author Marc Brackett believes that the mental well-being of Americans is shockingly poor, which leads to physical health issues, financial issues and increased stress for all of our society. Most of us have been taught since childhood to be seen and not heard, to hide all of our emotions, bury them and not even acknowledge them. Most people will answer "fine" if you ask how they are doing, not matter what is going on in their life. 

Marc Brackett is a professor in Yale University's Child Study Center and founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. In his 25 years as an emotion scientist, he has developed a blueprint for understanding our emotions and using them wisely so that they help, rather than hinder, our success and well-being. 

After an uncle listened to him and gave him permission to feel and express his emotions and encouraged him to talk about them and to deal with them, he realized he wasn't stuck, he wasn't alone and that it is okay to have negative emotions.

He created a system titled, RULER, to help people understand and take charge of their emotions. He has seen first-hand improvements in grades, school attendance, and a decrease in dropouts, when teachers and school administrators have started using RULER in their classrooms. Since then he has also lead workshops for numerous businesses and organizations. 

This book could be helpful for someone seeking to improve their emotional well-being and stress and also for parents and supervisors of any kind.  

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

 The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure
by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
Pages: 352
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This book discusses the way the current teens and college-age students are being raised and taught. A lot of groups including schools don't allow competition, saying that just participating should be enough. But without friendly competition in schools how do kids learn to compete in life as adults. And perhaps just as important how do they learn to compete in a mature manner. These authors look at social trends that started in the 1980s (when I was a kid) and have progressed to today. 

I wanted to read this book after learning about "helicopter" parents. So, are just over-protective while others are over-protective to the extreme and their kids don't know how to do anything for themselves. I was shocked to learn of parents going on job interviews for their kid. So, I wanted to see what others would say about the trends I was seeing around me. 

The authors discuss how American society has gotten to this point and make some suggestions for ways to change this trend in the future. The authors are concerned about the stability of the country both economically and politically. We already have some people in power who do not know how to act like adults in public, so no wonder that kids accept this as normal. We all have to learn to compromise, to get along, to agree to disagree and still stay friends, with at least some people. But that is not what is being taught in some schools, some homes or other youth organisations. 

Lots of provocative and discussion worthy topics here.

Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel by Jeannette Walls

Jeannette Walls is an excellent storyteller.  I loved her memoir, The Glass Castle, but I enjoyed reading Half Broke Horses even more.   In Half Broke Horses, Walls shares to remarkable adventures of her maternal grandmother, Lily Casey Smith, to whom Walls feels a kindred spirit.  Like many heroines of the American Frontier, Lily Casey Smith is brave, resourceful, and no-nonsense.

272 pages.