“Carry On, Warrior: The Power of Embracing Your Messy, Beautiful Life” by Glennon Melton
I haven’t felt much like a warrior lately. Being addressed as one felt empowering when I chanced on an ad for CARRY ON, WARRIOR. Brene Brown loves the book, as does Anne Lamott, and since they’re two warriors I admire, I figured I’d try it.
I’ve heard Anne Lamott’s writings described as “liberal piety”, a term that also fits Glennon Melton. She, like Lamott, fell hard into addiction and hopelessness, picked herself up, and, with help from her expansive faith, sticks herself and her vulnerabilities out into the public eye with warrior-like courage. Mirroring the state of our country’s drug culture, Glennon, thirty years Lamott’s junior, indulged way more than alcohol. She pulls no punches describing her cocaine binges and their messy, agonizing aftermaths, nor does she shy away from laying out her flaws like cards in a poker hand. Here’s what I got, she says. And I win. She wins by being transparent about her nastiness, her neuroses, her need for grace, and her constant falling from that grace, so that readers can follow suit.
There’s something about overdoing things to the extent Melton did that makes me sit up and pay attention. And when she goes about healing, she does it with the same passion and intensity she gave drugs and bulimia and sex. She does not mess around.
Nor does she say anything new, but the way she says it is plenty new enough. She speaks with conviction about the inescapable agonies of life, and with equal conviction about the joys of facing and fighting them. She is committed to exposing herself fearlessly, and believes in the healing power of openness.
If, as the AA and NA folks say, “Courage is fear that has said its prayers,” Glennon Melton has prayed well. Her conviction that vulnerability and openness are fine avenues to pursuing our dreams and discovering our destinies is “catching”. CARRY ON, WARRIOR is a worthy read, and though I still don’t feel as much like a warrior as I’d like, it has helped me carry on.
I’ve heard Anne Lamott’s writings described as “liberal piety”, a term that also fits Glennon Melton. She, like Lamott, fell hard into addiction and hopelessness, picked herself up, and, with help from her expansive faith, sticks herself and her vulnerabilities out into the public eye with warrior-like courage. Mirroring the state of our country’s drug culture, Glennon, thirty years Lamott’s junior, indulged way more than alcohol. She pulls no punches describing her cocaine binges and their messy, agonizing aftermaths, nor does she shy away from laying out her flaws like cards in a poker hand. Here’s what I got, she says. And I win. She wins by being transparent about her nastiness, her neuroses, her need for grace, and her constant falling from that grace, so that readers can follow suit.
There’s something about overdoing things to the extent Melton did that makes me sit up and pay attention. And when she goes about healing, she does it with the same passion and intensity she gave drugs and bulimia and sex. She does not mess around.
Nor does she say anything new, but the way she says it is plenty new enough. She speaks with conviction about the inescapable agonies of life, and with equal conviction about the joys of facing and fighting them. She is committed to exposing herself fearlessly, and believes in the healing power of openness.
If, as the AA and NA folks say, “Courage is fear that has said its prayers,” Glennon Melton has prayed well. Her conviction that vulnerability and openness are fine avenues to pursuing our dreams and discovering our destinies is “catching”. CARRY ON, WARRIOR is a worthy read, and though I still don’t feel as much like a warrior as I’d like, it has helped me carry on.
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