What does it mean to be untamed?
I looked hard at my faith, my friendships, my work, my sexuality, my entire life and asked: How much of this was my idea? Do I truly want any of this, or is this what I was conditioned to want? — Glennon Doyle, Untamed
Untamed asks us to examine the roles we’ve been told to play.
Sit like a lady.
Fix your hair.
Be respectful.
Shhh.
Published in March 2020, Untamed quickly became a sensation—especially among those privileged to spend the first year of the pandemic reading. But we’re not in lockdown anymore. We’re in the messy, uncertain space that comes after.
Upon a recent reread, I can confirm: Untamed wasn’t just a book for the moment.
What the world needs right now in order to evolve is to watch one woman at a time live her truest, most beautiful life without asking for permission or offering explanation.
— Glennon Doyle, Untamed
Big Rocks
Each chapter is mercifully short and reads like a vignette. If you have limited time—or if you tend to fall asleep three pages in—this book is for you.
Read it like a buffet. When your intuition says yes, take it into your soul. When it doesn’t, let it pass.
Glennon Doyle writes from the perspective of a white woman. Her chapter on racism is meant for readers with similar lived experience. Take what serves you—and take care of yourself.
Go Toward the Warmth
For me, the central message of Untamed is: your life is yours to embody.
That’s also the essence of somatic work—where we reconnect with our physical selves to move through the world from a place of deep belonging, inner knowing, and self-trust.
Imagining better isn’t self-indulgent.
Knowing what’s right isn’t arrogant.
Living your truth isn’t selfish.
Trusting your intuition isn’t crazy.
What’s Next from Glennon
If Untamed cracked something open in you, you might want to check out Glennon’s newest offering, We Can Do Hard Things: Answers to Life’s 20 Questions. Written with her partner Abby Wombach and her sister Amanda Doyle, this book bills itself as the guidebook for being alive.
As if I needed another reason to bump it to the top of my TBR list, Glennon and Abby recently joined Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe on A Touch More—one of my favorite podcasts—to talk about the book and the questions that shaped it.
📚 Happy Reading,
Jilian
