Summary

This chapter is subtitled “Coming to Grips with Ourselves,” and is framed by the author’s narration of the experience of Catherine Hoke, a friend and colleague whose professional and personal mistakes had several consequences in both aspects of her life. In the aftermath of those consequences, the author writes, the practice of self-compassion contributed profoundly to her (Hoke’s) recovery – that is, the acknowledgement and acceptance that everyone makes mistakes, and everyone has the capacity to recover from them.

“Self-compassion,” the author writes, “comes from recognizing that our imperfections are part of being human … it helps us realize that doing a bad thing does not necessarily make us a bad person” (60 - 61). By practicing self-compassion, the author writes, Hoke and others were, and are, able to move past the guilt and shame arising from their mistakes, learn from those...