When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated. This is why we sometimes attack who they are, which is far more hurtful than addressing a behavior or a choice.
Nostalgia is also a dangerous form of comparison. Think about how often we compare our lives to a memory that nostalgia has so completely edited that it never really existed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Nostalgia can distort our perception of reality, leading us to compare our present lives unfavorably with idealized memories of the past.
In this quote, BrenΓ© Brown highlights the risk of nostalgia as it can lead to unbalanced comparisons between our current lives and an idealized version of our past. Nostalgia often edits memories, making them seem more appealing than they were, which can create dissatisfaction in the present and a false sense of what life was like, ultimately hindering our ability to appreciate our current experiences.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about mental health, one might say, 'As BrenΓ© Brown points out, nostalgia can distort our reality and affect how we view our lives.'
More from Bren Brown
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Social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky.
What we know matters but who we are matters more.
Authenticity is the daily practice of letting go of who we think we're supposed to be and embracing who we are.
Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.
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Western liberal humanism is not something that comes naturally to us: like an appreciation of art or poetry, it has to be cultivated. Humanism is itself a religion without God-not all religions, of course, are theistic. Our ethical secular ideal has it's own disciplines of mind and heart and gives people the means of finding faith in the ultimate meaning of human life that were once provided by the more conventional religions.