Vulnerability is the birthplace of innovation, creativity and change.
To create is to make something that has never existed before – there is nothing more vulnerable than that.”
Brené Brown
I love this quote.
She says it during one of her now very famous and much watched TED talks on vulnerability and shame.
If you have a spare 30 minutes, do watch them both – the vulnerability one first, which is here .
And the follow-on talk on shame – it is much more uplifting than it sounds! Worth watching for her incredibly powerful and punchy definition of the difference between guilt and shame. You’re intrigued now….go ahead, it’s worth it.
She speaks with extraordinary candour about changing perceptions, the importance of being willing to admit you are wrong, and the need to talk more openly and honestly about failing and trying again.
So this week, simply a thought –
Where can you make the courageous decision to be more vulnerable?
Perhaps to say to someone you have hurt – I’m sorry, I was wrong. Help me fix this.
Perhaps to say to yourself, I am not a failure. I may have failed at something, but that does not make me a failure. I am going to have another shot.
Maybe to try something that you have been longing to do for ages, but it felt like too much of a risk. To put yourself ‘out there’ and try, knowing that it might fail. But to do it anyway, because the idea is building inside you and is worthy of exploration.
And, most importantly of all, to live knowing that you are not perfect, and don’t have to try to be. No one is – despite what we try to let others believe, or what we believe of others.
None of us are perfect.
When we live like that, knowing that what we do does not define who we are, we live with greater freedom and confidence. We are able to say to each other, you are not perfect and neither am I.
But you are precious, unique and dearly loved. And what you do, whether you get it right or wrong, does not change that. You are loved and of worth simply for who you are.
Let’s live like that this week – and see how different our world looks.