The Light We Carry: Overcoming in Uncertain Times

Dare to be Brave!



In Becoming, we got a chance to learn Michelle Obama's backstory and the life of times of a First Lady during her husband Barack's presidency. But in The Light, We Carry, Michelle takes us one step further into her personal journey through the years since the COVID-19 pandemic began and shares with the reader the contents of her toolkit. What you won’t be fixing is the leaking sink what you will find a fix for is your soul. I had a very hard time during the first year of the pandemic and after reading this it was nice to know that I am not alone. Given how much time has passed I have learned my only limit is me. That is very freeing to realize.

The book has a hybrid genre, seeming to be both a self-help guide and a show more memoir. Michelle shares her experiences and emotions during various crucial times, such as after the presidential election following Obama's term and at the start of the pandemic, along with delightful stories from her childhood and moments spent with her insightful and marvelous mother. Additionally, the author offers essential techniques that helped her alleviate her own anxiety.

Despite Michelle's unwavering strength, intelligence, and composure, the vulnerabilities she exposes in her book may surprise you. Nevertheless, Michelle's gift as a public speaker and an individual is her ability to offer reassurance and hope while acknowledging the significant challenges that still exist. Her personal techniques involve pursuing new hobbies like knitting, forming genuine friendships with her trusted Kitchen Table companions, and finding fulfillment in being a mother and a wife. She also credits her mother for instilling in her the qualities of confidence, resilience, and grace in the face of adversity and hatred.

Self-help books can occasionally appear as though they merely rehash existing advice. Yet, I firmly believe that the most effective counsel is often recycled because it has proven successful. The Light We Carry by Michelle Obama, however, accomplishes something exceptional by emphasizing that, despite living in a world that may lack stability or certainty, we are the ones who provide that sense of security. Our innate humanity, compassion, optimism, and especially our light, serves as the foundation of our lives. Michelle's writing expertly reinforces this point.This has truly lifted my spirits and given me hope that positive change is possible if people want to try and change. Do not ever let anyone dim your light. show less

What do you get when you blend an autobiography of a notable person with a self-help book? Obama provides the answer in “The Light We Carry.” I conducted an experiment and read the first half of the book, then listened to Obama narrate the second half. Both platforms had advantages. I liked being able to physically highlight and easily take notes from the printed edition. But her skilled narration created a more engaging experience. I agree with some readers who note that people who have read numerous personal growth books won’t discover much untrodden ground in this tome. Still, I enjoyed Obama’s ability to link her life experiences to some well-established tactics for personal development. For example, her strategies for show more overcoming anxiety in public speaking will provide reinforcement to college students who enroll in my oral communication class. Another helpful insight was provided as Obama recounted her love of knitting. She explained that a simple physical activity can “detour” our brains from going down anxiety-filled paths as our hands "drive the car" for a period, giving some relief to our “churning brains.” Again, there are no revolutionary ideas here, but it’s an interesting, anecdote-filled book that underscores a number of useful techniques for navigating difficult situations. show less

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/the-light-we-carry-overcoming-in-uncertain-times...

A follow-up to her earlier autobiography, this is much more of a self-help book drawing on lessons learned from Michelle Obama’s family, her friends, her career and her experience of being First Lady for eight years. Most of us can relate to all but the last of these. It’s a very affirming message of self-help, self-confidence and compassion, which rather restores one’s faith in humanity. I am not in the audience that the book is primarily aimed at, but I found a lot to like and admire here, and it actually succeeded in cheering me up a bit about the state of the world.

An interesting thought from a parallel universe: a POLITICO journalist show more interviewing two senior Trump campaign managers last month asked if they had investigated popular support for alternative candidates to President Biden, other than Vice-President Harris, to see what would happen if he were replaced on the ballot.

Trump adviser: Yeah, we tested them all.
POLITICO: Who was the strongest?
Trump adviser: Strangely enough, Michelle Obama. show less

What to say about Michelle? She is a treasure. She has lived, and continues to live, an extraordinary life. She doesn't praise herself, or take special credit for who she has become. She seems to strive every day to be the best person she can be, for herself, her family, her community, her country. And that's what this book is about, I think. She calls upon all of us to do be our best selves, and offers tips on how to do that, with examples from her life, but doesn't claim to be an expert. Well written. Makes me want to be a better person.

I was disappointed that, to me, this wasn’t as good as her first book, Becoming, which I really liked. I was expecting something similar, but in The Light We Carry Michelle mostly shares advice on “overcoming in uncertain times,” which is the subtitle of this book.

Michelle does include a few of her own recollections as well as family members’ experiences, which are both interesting and entertaining. These fresh stories are outweighed by her serious and weighty insights that provide “practical wisdom and powerful strategies for staying hopeful and balanced in today’s highly uncertain world.” (from the book jacket) But there were just too few of these anecdotes in comparison to the determined advice she offers.

I admire her show more strength, her insights, and her honesty, drawing from her perspective as a mother, daughter, spouse, friend, and First Lady. The book is written to encourage readers to utilize the set of tools she offers “to help us better navigate change and remain steady within flux.”

I didn’t want a set of tools or strategies. I wanted more of her personal story. Maybe she shared everything in the first book, or maybe we just have to wait till she’s lived a little longer and accumulated more anecdotes. show less

I was very fond of Michelle Obama's prior memoir, Becoming, which felt honest and authentic in a way a lot of high-profile memoirs do not. The Light We Carry is much more in the vein of a self-help book, though, and while it does contain many nuggets of wisdom and is written with her unique voice, I didn't find myself enjoying it quite as much.

I've never really been interested in self-help literature (not even humorous, short books like The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck), and I chalk up my disinterest to that. Many will likely find the former First Lady's advice here revelatory and helpful, but it didn't connect with me.

Michelle Obama can do no wrong in my book, and I loved reading more about her here; this is a memoir with the focus on tools to get one through life. She’s very genuine in her sharing, and I appreciated her focus on mental health and what’s worked for her in living her life.