Scary Close
Dropping the Act and Finding True Intimacy
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
When it comes to authenticity, is being fully yourself always worth the risk? From the author of Blue Like Jazz comes New York Times bestseller Scary Close, Donald Miller's journey of uncovering the keys to a healthy relationship and discovering that they're also at the heart of building a healthy family, a successful career, and a trusted community of friends.
After decades of failed relationships and painful drama, Miller decided that he'd had enough. Trying to impress people wasn't helping him truly connect with anyone--and neither was pretending to be someone he wasn't. He'd built himself a life of public isolation, but he dreamed of having a life defined by meaningful relationships instead. At 40-years-old, he made a scary decision: he was going to be his true self no matter what it might cost.
Scary Close tells the story of Miller's difficult choice to impress fewer people and connect with even more. It's about the importance of knocking down old walls to finally experience the freedom that comes when we stop playing a part and start being fully ourselves.
In Scary Close, Miller shares everything he's learned firsthand about how to:
Deconstruct the old habits that no longer serve usOvercome the desire to please the people around usAlways tell the truth, even when it's hardFind satisfaction in a daily portion of real loveRisk being fully known in order to deeply love and be lovedApply these lessons to your everyday life
If you're ready to drop the act and find true, life-changing intimacy, it's time to get Scary Close.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
More than five years after his last book, Miller (Blue Like Jazz) returns to his brand of telling it like it is this time about relationships. In a conversational tone, he discloses thoughts about intimacy and how to find it: taking off the masks worn to hide the true self. The personality we show to the world often is that of a performer, created to hide who we are while trying to win approval and get attention, he says. Miller's contemplations come as the result of courting his wife, Betsy, who changed his thinking when it came to relationships with women. Older, married readers might chuckle at the author's description of Betsy as near perfect, but younger readers will relate to the frankly expressed concerns about pressure to fit in, difficulties in the dating scene, and hard lessons learned, some with the help of counseling. Short chapters tackle topics that range from personal memories and experiences to practical advice about factors that affect people as they develop relationships.