I absolutely LOVE Brene Brown and go back to this Ted Talk almost monthly. She talks about how connection is why we are on this earth. Connection gives us both purpose and meaning to our lives. In order to reach that connection, we need to push past that shame because we can’t have true connection unless we allow ourselves to be fully seen. As Brene Brown unpacked her research and she realized that the only difference between people who have a strong sense of belonging and those who struggle with that is the first group of people believe they are worthy of love and belonging.
Every time I watch this TED Talk; I always take something new from it. For me, COVID brought me to my knees and made me reevaluate how I connect with others. I was so desperate to not feel alone in the midst of social distancing. The biggest thing I realized is that I lived my life with people at arms distance. Being vulnerable is terrifying because you have to push past the voice that says you are not good enough, you are not worthy of the quality of friendships or relationships you desire, and that you will just be rejected. I let those fears and negative voices control my life and in hindsight I see how much that negatively impacted my relationships. I felt like I knew people around me, but they did not actually know me.
My project for the summer was to start sharing my heart and feelings with others. The less you talk about shame the more you feel it, and this proved so true for me. The more I shared my thoughts the more others shared in my vulnerabilities rather than reject me the way I had let myself believe people would. It made me realize we really are, more than ever, all craving true connection. We just have to be brave enough to take the first step in being seen.
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