The Power of Vulnerability

The topic of vulnerability has come up a number of times in my life recently. It first came as an idea, as a modern fear of society. It then presented itself as a challenge, a demand, and an experience. We, humans, are so sensitive to what others think of us even if we aren’t aware of it. For most people, every action and every word are not said or done without consideration of the people around us. We make jokes and criticise ourselves, so we don’t seem ‘stuck-up’ or to play it off in case we don’t get what we want. We stop or quit before things get too ‘real’ to protect ourselves from failure and ultimately the judgement of others. We hide so that our failed desires don’t hold power over us but in doing so we take away our own power and always fall short of what we truly want. There is such a power in stepping out of that comfort zone and becoming comfortable with doing the uncomfortable.

In a previous article of mine (Key to Humanity: Fear), I spoke about the subject of fear, which I think is relevant to this article as well. I want to bring your attention to a quote of mine from that article,

“Many people try to pretend they aren’t afraid at all to act brave, but being brave does not mean you aren’t scared. It means you were able to rise above that fear and do it anyway.”

Being vulnerable is scary, stepping out of your comfort zone is scary, but often the things that we are most afraid to do are the ones we know we should. Now obviously I’m not talking about leaping off the Grand Canyon because you’re afraid of heights, I’m talking about the things that you really want to do but are afraid to because of that fear of failure and judgement.

Yesterday, I had an audition callback where I sang in front of a panel of judges. Was it scary? Absolutely. Did I still go there and do the best I could? Of course I did. I know it sounds easy for me to say because I’m not you but trust me I would have backed out as soon as I got the callback if I hadn’t learnt what I am telling you now. I would not have the platform, the confidence, the knowledge, the experiences that I have now, if I had said “Nah” to my hopes and dreams.

I cannot exactly control the fear in my heart or my voice shaking, but I can show up. I can show up for myself because no matter what happens, I did what I came to do. I followed through with that. You don’t get the part, the role, the promotion, the thing you wanted? So what? It’s not the end of the world. You don’t have to overthink and never try again because it just wasn’t your time. You want it? Try again. Keep doing what you love even if it isn’t in the exact same form. Maybe you find passion in something else or somewhere else. And that fear, shaking body, the feeling like you’re about to throw up, the only way you are going to overcome that is by continuously putting yourself in those situations – by being comfortable with being uncomfortable. The only constant in life is change. It’s inevitable and honestly, I think that’s what life is all about. Putting yourself out there to experience all kinds of things. There are an infinite number of decision combinations from the moment you are born to the moment you die. So do what you want and if things don’t go as planned, pick another route, take a slight detour, do a complete U-turn if you please, but don’t stop. Life is too unique to just stop.