> Skip to content

Article  •  24 November 2021

 

Dear reader: A letter from Brené Brown

The bestselling author of Gifts of Imperfection and Dare to Lead on the vastness of human emotion.

Dear Reader,

In a sea of constant uncertainty and change, Atlas of the Heart is a book about finding the solid ground within us, and safely navigating our way back to ourselves and to each other. This book offers a collection of tools, including new language that helps us more accurately talk about our emotions and experiences and a new model for cultivating meaningful connection.

Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein wrote, “The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.” We’ve collected data for over two decades that shows that many of us have very limited vocabularies when it comes to identifying human emotion and experience. In fact, when asked how many emotions they could recognise and name in their own experiences, our research participants said three: mad, sad, and happy.

What does it mean if the vastness of human emotion and experience can be expressed only as one of these three affects? What about shame, disappointment, wonder, awe, disgust, embarrassment, despair, contentment, boredom, anxiety, stress, love, overwhelm, surprise, and all the other emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human?

Without accurate language, we struggle to get the help we need, we don’t always regulate or manage our emotions and experiences in a way that allows us to move through them productively, and our self-awareness is limited.

Doing this research and writing this book has taught me that our emotions and experiences are layers of biology, biography, behavior, and backstory. Every single day, our feelings and experiences show up in our bodies. They’re shaped by where we come from and how we were raised. They drive how we show up. And each feeling has its own unique backstory. Understanding these emotions and experiences is our life’s work. The more we learn, the deeper we can continue to explore.

The real gift of expanding our language, practising this work, and cultivating meaningful connection is being able to go anywhere without the fear of getting lost. When fear, anxiety, and uncertainty leave us feeling adrift and untethered in our lives – and God knows we’ve felt plenty of that in the past few years – our first instinct is to look out into the distance to find the nearest shore. But the shore isn’t something outside of us – the solid ground we’re seeking is within us. It’s not always easy to find, but it’s there. I believe the more confident we are about being able to navigate to that place, the more daring our adventures and the more connected we are to ourselves and to each other.

Atlas of the Heart is an actionable framework for cultivating this kind of meaningful connection. It takes us on a journey through eighty-seven emotions and experiences that define what it means to be human and maps out the language and tools necessary to access a universe where we can share and steward the stories of our bravest and most heartbreaking moments with one another.

Stay awkward, brave, and kind.

Brené Brown

Feature Title

Atlas of the Heart
This major new work from the international bestselling author of Gifts of Imperfection and Dare to Lead examines the 87 emotions and experiences that define us, and provides a compelling framework to help us all become more emotionally fluent and connected.
Read more

More features

See all
Article
9 books to read after Atomic Habits

Love Atomic Habits but don’t know what to read next? Never fear, we’ve got the perfect guide for you.

Article
4 reasons why Atlas of The Heart is taking the world by storm

Everything you need to know about the book, the audiobook, and the TV series.

Article
QUIZ: Which book should you read on the train?

The first step to reading on the train is deciding what to read. Find out which book you should pick up by taking this fun quiz.

Article
Article
The six books that changed my life in 2020

Dot Tonkin recommends you move these to the top of your TBR stack.

Book clubs
Atlas of the Heart book club questions

Atlas of the Heart should be your next book club pick. A guide to mapping meaningful connection, this book is compelling, enlightening and ripe with discussion points.

Article
Abbey’s bookshop in Sydney is celebrating 90 years of Penguin books

Learn about the 4-day Penguin pop-up hosted by Abbey’s bookshop, including special release editions, bookmarks and limited-edition tote bags.

Article
Write It Fellowship Shortlist 2025

We are thrilled to announce the shortlist for the Write It Fellowship 2025.

Article
Your guide to pre-ordering Alchemised

Learn how to pre-order Alchemised by SenLin Yu and join the thousands of readers who will start reading it on 23 September 2025.

Article
How to make Book Week less stressful

5 tips to help you plan now and avoid Book Week stress later.

Article
Penguin Children’s Bookseller Grant 2025

Learn more and apply for the Penguin Children’s Bookseller Grant – a $200,000 initiative designed to engage young readers.

Article
QUIZ: Which Hawthorne brother is your soulmate?

Take this quiz to find out which Hawthorne brother from The Inheritance Games series would be your perfect match.

Looking for more articles?

See all articles
penguin pop image
penguin pop image