Someone writing about their issues and how they are working through them is not always a big draw. What is the tone? How heavy-handed is the "you should do it too" element? Thankfully Don Miller finds a funny-painfully honest-trust the reader approach that makes his newest book work.

Occasionally I had to put the book down and weep a bit as Miller's words spoke of things I know too well. And I had to read several passages aloud to Ken when I did weep so he'd understand what triggered the tears. But aside from time to process and read aloud, the pages kept turning with ease.

After a long pause in writing myself, it was Miller who pointed out what was holding me back. I write about that here.

Some lines worth remembering include:

"Being afraid to love and being paralyzed at the keyboard both involve a fear of being know, a fear of making mistakes, a fear of being found out.”

"…the fear of letting people down is one of the primary reasons people procrastinate.”

"Is there anything more toxic than the fear of being judged? Judgment shuts us down and makes us hide. It keeps us from being ourselves, which keeps us from connecting with people.”

"I couldn’t afford to be afraid to write and my soul needed to be known and it couldn’t be known in hiding.

"So I wrote. I wrote as though God thought my voice mattered. I wrote because I believed a human story was beautiful, no matter how small the human was. I wrote because I didn’t make myself, God did. And I wrote like [God] invited me to share my true “self” with the world.” ( )

I listened to the author read this book and I enjoyed it. I have to admit I saw myself in some of the stories he told and it made me think . Am I trying to play a part, do I try to change people... I would recommend this book to anyone in a relationship, just ended a relationship or want to start a relationship. Another words anyone and everyone. ( )

Definitely worth reading. Beautiful stories. ( )

Fabulous. Don Miller's book Searching For For Knows What helped save my faith many years ago and his subsequent books have all challenged me in different ways. This book doesn't touch on much spiritually but really gets to some core things that hinder our ability to connect with people. I love that he counsels and shares thru story, his and others, and so he doesn't give a lecture or self improvement feel. ( )