Telling My Story: The Power of Vulnerability

I was talking over vulnerability with a friend today.  I mentioned that, though I choose to put a lot of myself out there, on this blog, in real life, and all over twitter (and I mean ALL over twitter!)... though I choose to write about my insecurities and crankinesses and teacup sized dramas and utter cooking failures, every time I do it there is a twist of reservation in my heart.  A little whisper of discomfort. An uncomfortable sense of vulnerability.

What's up with that? I asked.

She merely grinned and told me to watch this YouTube video.  Brene Brown's TED talk on the Power of Vulnerability.

I watched it. Then I watched it again. Then I watched it with hubs.

 I laughed, and I cried at the end when she says...

And the last, which I think is probably the most important, is to believe that we're enough. Because when we work from a place ... that says, "I'm enough," then we stop screaming and start listening, we're kinder and gentler to the people around us, and we're kinder and gentler to ourselves.

And by the end of all this, my attitude to what I choose to share publicly, and what others choose to share, had changed profoundly.

 You see, those of us that blog honestly, keep it real, don't buy into fakery or magazine superficiality... those of us who tell you our stories online, or in the cafe, or on the phone, are summoning our courage* and we are being imperfect. We are willing to let go of who we think we should be, and are being who we really are.

 Its not easy for me.  It never has been.

But this, dear readers, is my gift to you, every single time I post here.

 *I also loved Brene's definition of courage...

Courage, the original definition of courage, when it first came into the English language -- it's from the Latin word cor, meaning heart -- and the original definition was to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart