In a previous post, An Inspiring Message From A Corporate Tyrant, I used a speech by Apple’s Steve Jobs to illustrate that inspiring messages can come from all corners of life, not just your typical spiritual book, workshop or channel. One source of inspiring messages, with people from a huge variety of backgrounds, is TED, a nonprofit organization devoted since 1984 to Ideas Worth Spreading.
Once you start browsing the incredibly rich TED library I guarantee that you will find the most interesting and inspiring stuff, much better than your TV has to offer. Without having ever talked about this, my 23 year old son had discovered this resource on his own and one night over dinner warmly recommended me to spend some time going through the video’s that are available: “dad, knowing you I am sure that you will really like this website,” he said. We had a big laugh together when I showed him what TED presentations I had already enjoyed.
This time I love to share a presentation with you from an academic, Brené Brown, who by her own admission lived by the principle “if you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist.” It is both fascinating and inspiring to hear how her research became a personal journey of spiritual awakening.
Introducing Brené Brown
Brené Browne is a research professor at the University of Houston, who has spent the last ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame through which she discovered the concept of Wholeheartedness.
Brené is the author of The Gifts of Imperfection: Letting Go of Who We Think We Should Be and Embracing Who We Are (Hazelden, 2010) and I Thought It Was Just Me(but it isn’t): Telling the Truth About Perfectionism, Inadequacy, and Power (Penguin/Gotham, 2007).
She is also the author of Connections, a psycho educational shame resilience curriculum that is being facilitated by mental health and addiction professionals. Brené’s current research focuses on authentic leadership and wholeheartedness in families, schools, and organizations. Brené is a renowned speaker in the US and has won numerous teaching awards.
In this 20 minutes TED presentation “The Power of Vulnerability,” she discusses with lots of humor two questions that so many people are struggling with in their daily life:
- How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness?
- How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy?
She clearly has no problem making herself vulnerable while giving you her personal answer to these questions.
Please enjoy!
iPhone or iPad users: for video please click here.
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