Right now I am reading Becoming by Michelle Obama, published in 2018. I worried that I missed the boat on reading it because almost six year have passed since it was released. Time passes quickly in politics. Luckily, Michelle Obama does not have much of a taste for politics, as I found out in the book. Also I am sure that it is just as interesting in 2024 as it was when it was published, I am sure.
I love reading this book! Michelle is very inspiring and relatable. Sometimes when I reading it though, I get caught up in mind game where I ask myself why I haven’t accomplished as much as Michelle Obama, because she is a very accomplished woman. This book is truly about her and even outside of her husband’s political work she is truly a phenomenal, special person.
This comparison trap leads me to put the book down for a day or so at a time. The cure I find, when I get stuck in this comparison trap, is that I remember that we were all made differently and we all have our own gifts.
Michelle is a very smart, organized and gregarious person. She is great at leading organizations. She has been the executive director of a number of non profit organization and she was a corporate lawyer before that.
However, perhaps she does not come up with crazy ideas all time like I do. (For example, I have started planning my own version of the game Clue, except this version is a Taylor Swift themed version. It would have all the little Taylor hallmarks in it like: windows, Mirrorball’s, and scarves).
Back to Michelle Obama ——-A healthy thing to do is to appreciate her for who she is but to not compare myself to her. As I am reading I can enjoy her story, I need to remember to not compare myself to her.
I am about a little more than half way through and I just love this book. I just got to the part where Barack Obama, Michelle’s husband, is contemplating a run for the US Senate. Michelle and Barack have decided to seek the help of a marriage counselor because she is often away doing political stuff and she is feeling disconnected.
The one thing that has popped into my mind while I read this section is a sketch from the television program called Key & Peele. On the show, there is a reoccurring sketch about President Obama and his anger translator name Luther. Luther comes in when President Obama needs to express his anger in a less politically correct way, for example when a situation requires him to “be real” for the black audience. In one of the sketches Michelle Obama needs her anger translator to have a “real” conversation with Barack.
Here is the clip.
Warning: this video is not workplace/ small child/ older relative friendly. There is some spicy language involved.
In any case, I hope that clip, if you chose to view it.
Have you read Becoming by Michelle Obama. What did you think?
I might write more about it when I finish the book.
I did read this several months ago. I would have lent it to you! Like you, I know that she is a very positive person, and she tells the story of the rise to the presidency in both of her books. She also comments on people who try to use people as well. I do enjoy her positivity and it can be tough to compare self with people who achieve so much. I always feel like I am not a committed person. However, that needs to be investigated.
I really enjoyed reading Becoming, but it sounds exhausting to be Michelle Obama and be on all the time. I mostly enjoyed the insider information about living in the White House and the stories about her mother’s life in the White House. I really would not want to ever be that busy or to be famous. I could see myself sneaking away from Secret Service to go to CVS.