We’ve Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging by Ritu Bhasin
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Genre: Contemporary, Non-Fiction
Rating: 3 Stars
Review by: AstilbeMany of us feel constant pressure to mask and curate who we are–to perform as someone we’re not rather than be who we are. And it hurts us. But we don’t need to live this way.
With We’ve Got This, award-winning and globally recognized DEI and empowerment expert Ritu Bhasin delivers a much-needed guidebook on how to heal, thrive, and stand in your power in the face of hate and hardships. She reveals how to unlock belonging–for yourself and for others.
Ritu knows firsthand that the path to belonging can be both beautiful and hard. As a child of working-class immigrants of color, she experienced relentless struggles with racist bullying and cultural confusion growing up. Even as a successful lawyer and business leader, Ritu grappled with knowing, embracing, and being her authentic self–until she realized the freedom that comes with claiming belonging, which she passionately shares in these pages.
Combining empathy, humor, and research with life-changing wisdom and savvy, We’ve Got This is the guide for finding belonging and joy that readers from across backgrounds have been waiting for.
The world needs more inclusiveness.
While I’m not Punjabi like Ms. Bhasin is, I am a member of a few other minority groups that are also misunderstood by society at large at times. I smiled and nodded along as I took note of the many similarities between our two lives that may not appear to have much in common at first glance. There is something refreshing and encouraging about discovering what one has in common with a stranger, and I was glad I took this journey with her.
The repetition in this book made it difficult for me to remain highly interested in reading the next page or chapter. As excited as I was to explore this topic and as much as I wanted to give it a higher rating, repeating the points so many times made them less meaningful to me as a reader. So many passages could have been trimmed down or combined into previous chapters.
Some of the most memorable sections for me were the ones that explored how yoga can bring about both physical and emotional healing. This is a form of exercise I’ve practiced on and off for years, and I’ve also found it incredibly helpful for dealing with all sorts of physical and emotional sore spots. The more people who become aware of this option, the better if you ask me!
I also struggled with how much time the author spent sharing her own story. Obviously, it was important to understand her catalyst for writing about standing strong in the face of hate and discrimination, but I kept wishing for more advice on practical ways to do so instead of more examples of prejudice. There was so much more that could have been done with these later sections.
With that being said, I did find the section that talked about how to let someone know when they’ve said something offensive useful. It can be difficult for some people to hear that they’re being hurtful, and they may not always be open to listening to how certain words feel when one is on the other side of them. There are ways to nudge those automatic reactions aside, though, and it’s good to do so when possible.
We’ve Got This: Unlocking the Beauty of Belonging was thought provoking.
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