Atlas of the Heart served with fried artichoke hearts

 Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown and served with air fryer Artichoke Hearts 

I have read several Brene Brown books over the years and listed to her podcast.  This book is about emotion, what emotions mean and the words we use to describe them.  I know it doesn't sound like a riveting subject, put believe me it is.   At the beginning she says they asked people to name emotions and the average person was able to name 3.  I tried it and I was able to name 6.  I thought i was just super smart but it turns out she is taking us through the journey of 80+ emotions!   

I don't think you need to read this book in one sitting.  In fact, I picked it up and put it down over a couple of months.  At work, a group of us read it as a book group discussion which was nice.  It allowed me to slow down and dig in.  We met every 2 weeks and discussed 2 chapters.  I also watched the HBO series which comes directly from the book.   Overall I would say this book helped me think about what I was feeling and how to navigate that emotion.  It also made me think about the "Near Enemies" to so many emotions.  For example, sometimes people say they are curious when they are actually just trying to shoot down whatever you are saying.  We label something but then we do something slightly off from that.  You might say you are supportive but it is really controlling.   I'm sure I'm not explaining it well so read the book.    

With so much sadness these past 2 weeks over the senseless deaths caused by gun violence, it was helpful to go back and reread the stress and anxiety parts of the book.   And as the politicians started squawking their stuff, I thought about "Self Righteousness".  

I recommend this as a journey.  Pick it up as you need it, soak it in, discuss it with someone and think about it.   ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I paired this with Artichoke Hearts because I thought I was being super smart 😁  I also steamed a full artichoke.  I didn't grow up eating artichokes and didn't have my first taste of them until my sister moved to California and visited her.  I still remember thinking, this is the weirdest food.  You scrape it with your teeth and barely get anything!   I felt like it was more of a spoon to eat mayonnaise!  But I do love artichoke dip so I figured they can't be all bad. 

For the fried artichoke hearts,  I had a jar of whole hearts, I drained them and cut them in half.   I put them in a baggie with some mayo, salt and pepper and shook them up!  Then I dumped them in a bowl of Italian bread crumb and parmesan cheese.  Once they were coated, I put them in the air fryer, 370 for 12 minutes.   They were delicious!   I dipped them in some ranch dressing.   

For the full artichoke, I had to search how to cook one and just followed all of the directions on triming it and steaming it.   There seems to be a debate on whether the correct dipping is mayo or butter.  I tried both and liked the mayo the best.   Still not sure the work is worth what you get.   But, it was kind of fun.  Enjoy!