Last Updated on March 13, 2021
Doesn’t the word vulnerability get overused now? It’s become so cliche, but that doesn’t mean it’s become unimportant.
The risk of not being vulnerable
This is how I like to think about vulnerability:
What’s the greater risk? Letting go of what people think – or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?
Brene Brown
Creative work and vulnerability
I enjoy writing drafts, but I don’t enjoy publishing! It makes me nervous. Especially the stuff that I haven’t painstakingly edited for a ridiculous amount of time. I am trying to learn this lesson:
The moment that you feel, just possibly, you are walking down the street naked, exposing too much of your heart and your mind, and what exists on the inside, showing too much of yourself…That is the moment, you might be starting to get it right.
Neil Gaiman
Disinterest is more likely than ridicule
It’s so true – the bigger risk with sharing creative work is finding out that what you’ve created is actually just uninteresting and no one cares!
As usual, Stephen Pressfield says it best:
When you understand that nobody wants to read your shit, your mind becomes powerfully concentrated. You begin to understand that writing/reading is, above all, a transaction. The reader donates his time and attention, which are supremely valuable commodities. In return, you the writer, must give him something worthy of his gift to you.
No One Wants to Read Your Shit
We are all going to die
I also like to remember the insignificance of it all on the grander scale.
Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
Steve Jobs
Given you’re going to die, you may as well:
Die Empty. I want to know that if I lay my head down tonight and don’t wake up tomorrow, I have emptied myself of whatever creativity is lingering inside, with minimal regrets about how I spent my focus, time, and energy.
Die Empty
The vulnerability hangover
I think this is a funny idea. It’s defined as rush of regret you feel after being vulnerable with others. (Maybe it’s accompanied by a regular hangover too, if you went wild at the office Christmas party and aren’t feeling so good about it in the morning.)