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The Power of Vulnerability

The human mind

Social work professor Brené Brown gave a startling TED talk a while back, and her basic point was this: we usually want things to go a certain way. We usually want to be able to predict what happens and for it to be something we’ve identified as good. What we don’t want is to screw up, to look bad, to open ourselves up to pain, loss, or embarrassment, or to invest ourselves in something that doesn’t pan out. Yet Brown makes a compelling case that without the willingness to be vulnerable, we shut ourselves down and make it impossible to enjoy or make the most of our lives.

To tell you the truth, I’m especially enthusiastic to share with you Dr. Brown’s following TED talk, but it’s important (and rewarding!) to see this one first. If you’re not already one of the roughly 8.5 million people (at the time of this writing) who’ve heard what she has to say, please find 20 minutes now, or as soon as it’s practical, and hear her out. I’ll follow up with a related post soon.

3 Comments

3 Comments

  1. Gerald Warfield  •  Mar 27, 2013 @1:13 pm

    Luc, this is good stuff. She speaks to a lot of my issues. Thanks for posting.

  2. Luc  •  Mar 27, 2013 @1:24 pm

    Mine too, Gerald. I actually think I’m going to have to go back and watch this one and her other TED talk several times, with maybe a couple of months in between, to really soak it all in. It’s too easy to fall back into business as usual and forget about all this, so some reminding may help me.

  3. Kim Earley  •  Jul 27, 2013 @12:21 pm

    You are so right, Luc. It is far too easy to fall back into our routines and do things the same way. Since I have been thinking about it, though, I am starting a journal – to write myself a reminder as soon as I get up in the morning (or at least after I have my coffee in hand!), and jot down reminders from this video and other great things that I have ‘stumbled’ on recently – your website being one of them, and Andy Andrews book about ‘The Seven Decisions’. I have two grown children (ages 20 and 23) and I firmly believe that they need me and their dad now more than ever – such a tough age!

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