11 Home Renovations That Will Make You Want to Remodel STAT

Being a creative in this day and age can at times be daunting — uncertainty about job security, the fear of rejection and staying in love with your passion after it becomes your job can be more than enough to turn people away. “When your vocation becomes your occupation, there’s always a little shift, so you have to protect it,” Brené tells us. “You have to keep the love alive so it doesn’t become just another thing you have to do, because then you can’t put the magic in it.”

And for creative women, we face an additional catalog of hurdles. “Creativity is kind of revealing a part of our soul, and we live in a pretty hostile environment,” Brené says, “so I think it’s scary to put yourself out there when there are so many critics and cynics out there today. I think that’s what make creativity scary, and I think that’s what make it powerful.” Rising in the face of adversity is certainly a strong statement. As our FLOTUS put it, “When they go low, we go high.”

And when you put yourself out there — yes, sometimes you’re going to fail. That’s okay. What you have to be careful of is letting your failures define you. “One of the big life stages at mid-life, anywhere from mid-thirties to late-fifties, the big developmental life stage is integration. We bring home all the parts of ourselves that we have orphaned because we don’t they fit in with who we’re supposed to be, we call them all home and we say, ‘This is me. The good, the bad, the tough, the beautiful.’,” Brené tells us. “I think that’s the gift of being my age, I have a very sensitive bulls–t meter so if you haven’t called everything home and made peace with those parts of us that are hard, that’s hard to be around.” And being able to pick up again after your fall — or even forgiving yourself for lingering down there too long — is all part of the process.

What do you think about Brené Brown’s advice? Tweet us @BritandCo!

(Photos courtesy of Brené Brown and Sugarboo)

Blake Lively's The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants Co-Stars

Most upsetting is the unabashed exploitation of domestic violence survivors' stories to silence a woman who asked for safety. The hypocrisy is astounding.

We are struck by the reality that even if a woman is as strong, celebrated, and resourced as our friend Blake, she can still face forceful retaliation for daring to ask for a safe work environment. We are inspired by our sister's courage to stand up for herself and others.

For anyone seeking more information or engaging in this important conversation online, please read the full legal complaint in the investigative reporting by Megan Twohey, Mike McIntire, and Julie Tate for the New York Times.

Colleen Hoover, Author of It Ends With Us

Paul Feig, Director of A Simple Favor

Director Paul Feig also shared his thoughts about what it's like to work with Blake on X. He said, "I’ve now made two movies with Blake and all I can say is she’s one of the most professional, creative, collaborative, talented and kind people I’ve ever worked with. She truly did not deserve any of this smear campaign against her. I think it’s awful she was put through this."

Robyn Lively, Blake Lively's Sister

The sisterly energy is real and we're so glad Blake is surrounded by it. Robyn, Blake's big sister, shared her full thoughts in a lengthy Instagram caption just 10 hours!

While encouraging people to do research for themselves by reading The New York Times article that details the devious plot to publicly destroy Blake, she had other things to say. "We live in an age where we have access to people’s personal lives like never before — especially actors. It makes us feel like we know them. We see them on social media, watch clips of them, and make snap decisions about their character," she wrote. This reminds me of the parasocial relationships author Amanda Montell detailed in The Age of Magical Overthinking — definitely something for us all to keep in mind.

She also called out how easy it is for the media to warp the public's perception of the truth. "The 'truth' in the tabloids is hardly ever what you think," she added before eventually expressing how "proud" she is that her sister "didn't allow herself to be silenced in the face of adversity and lies."

Bart Johnson, Blake Lively's Brother-in-law

According to Page Six, Blake's brother-in-law Bart Johnson didn't hesitate to share his thoughts about the behavior of Baldoni and his team. He reportedly wrote, "Her complaints were filed during the filming. On record. Long before the public conflict. The cast unfollowed him [Baldoni] for a reason." in the comment section of the NYT Instagram post about the lengthy deep dive into what happened.

He continued by writing, "His PR team was stellar. Gross and disgusting but highly effective. Read the article, their text message exchanges and his PR campaign strategy to bury her by any means necessary. No one is with out [sic] faults. But the public got played."