Aug 12, 2015 / Inspiration

Daring Greatly

It takes courage, and vulnerability, to “dare greatly.” For this week’s inspiration, explore the significance of sincerity, vulnerability, and courage in your writing.

Recently, I started reading Daring Greatly by the shame and vulnerability researcher, Brené Brown. In her book, Brown explores what it means to be vulnerable, its significance in our lives as human beings seeking connection with others, and how to overcome the shame we often feel around vulnerability.

Her insight is particularly interesting in the context of writing where our work, by nature, is a catalogue of our vulnerabilities. From the historical novelist to the comedic blogger, writing explores the vulnerability of human nature and turns it into something relatable to read.

Vulnerability isn’t good or bad: It’s not what we call a dark emotion, nor is it always a light, positive experience. Vulnerability is the core of all emotions and feelings. To feel is to be vulnerable. To believe vulnerability is weakness is to believe that feeling is weakness. To foreclose on our emotional life out of a fear that the costs will be too high is to walk away from the very thing that gives purpose and meaning to living.
– Brené Brown, Daring Greatly

As Brown says in her quote above, to be vulnerable is to feel. When we open ourselves up to emotion, we accept that we cannot control what happens next while choosing to honor what we feel in each moment. Often it’s an emotion that prompts the writing of a poem, a short story, or an exploration of a specific memory as a child. As we share those emotions, whether we’re writing in the first person or through a character, we expose our innermost thoughts.

To write honestly and sincerely, and to then hand our work over to the faceless crowd of the internet, can be scary. It can also be extremely rewarding, as Michelle reminded us in her “Roundtable: The Scariest Post I Ever Published”.

As you approach your writing this week, take Brown’s quote to heart. What is vulnerability to you and how does it influence your writing? When you write, where do the words come from and how do you know if they’re true? Take the time to explore the nugget of truth, the sincerest version of you in your writing by asking, “Is this real for me? Is this my truth?”

  • If there’s a post you’ve been sitting on, but are afraid to share, consider revisiting the why: why that post is important to you, and why you’re scared.
  • If you read a post that took considerable courage to share, or simply spoke to you on a deep, human level, reach out to the author and let them know.

When we congratulate openness in others’ writing, we create a community in which we can all share our truest stories with one another.

If you’re interested in more of Brown’s work, check out her TED Talk below.

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  3. I’ve been sitting on my break up with my best friend. It is so hard to think about it let alone write about it. I fear that I made a bad decision, but I couldn’t stay friends with someone who didn’t want to talk to me anymore.
    Thanks for this post on vulnerability. I’ll try to write this post.

    Liked by 1 person

  4. Thanks so much for sharing this. I rarely let myself be vulnerable as I’m a really closed off person. To me, being vulnerable is showing the real Me. The 100% This Is What You Get, emotions and all. Fortunately, my writing has allowed me to creatively let out my emotions. Unfortunately, I leave so much left unsaid. I’m going to look up this book and give it a read. Thanks for the suggestion.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I’m new to this game but I did read a few posts in the last few days. This, has by far been the one to which I connected the most. I know I am no one to say this but still, keep up the emotionally attached writings.

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  6. I loved ” Daring Greatly” by Brene Brown, as well as her other works. I just returned from a 4 week volunteer field work program with an NGO in Kampala, Uganda and found myself very vulnerable when sharing the ” real lens” of the 3rd world with readers. The post I made when things were tough, and I was struggling emotionally received very little feedback, and I can tell i was sensitive to the readers fear of what I was writing. So interesting how people respond to reading about hardships of others. As I am back home in the states, I am working on re-entry and want to write about so many things. You are spot on, it’s the moments when we are most vulnerable that lead to a creative burst of expression! Let’s just work to take the courage to share those moments!

    Liked by 3 people

  9. Such motivation for me as a writer. I’ve been writing for years,poetry been a creative art form for me. I’ve never had the courage to share. In the past few years my battle with MS and fibromyalgia has purged more writing than usual so I’ve embraced this as God ‘s way of pushing me to my purpose! Thanks for sharing 😍😍

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  12. “When we open ourselves up to emotion, we accept that we cannot control what happens next while choosing to honor what we feel in each moment.” I really like this quote. It really summarizes what I try to achieve as I put in my journal entries. I think doing so also helps me to apply that in real life. Really good quote

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  20. I love Brown’s idea that “vulnerability is the birthplace of creativity.” After eight years of fearing repercussions I feel finally feel free to blog. I’m interested in Brown’s new book

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  21. Thank you for this post. Greatly encouraged by it, as that is precisely what I have been doing. It certainly takes courage to face an audience one cannot see. Strength to all writers! x

    Liked by 1 person

  22. This has been something I’ve been trying my best to work on. As an artist, I’m growing more and becoming more transparent in my paintings. Now I’m following suit in my writing as well 🙂

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  23. Great post. I love her Ted Talk and have watched it numerous times and I think every time something different speaks to me. This also gives me inspiration for my next post.

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  24. I recently experienced a feeling of deep seated vulnerability when I was pondering the inescapable, philosophical questions of existence on a bus ride in Belize. This manifested itself in a poem which I published on my blog, the first poetic offering in a largely anecdotal, prose style blog. This post, however, made me think of another blog which I wrote in a moment of empassioned need after visiting the burning ghat in Varanasi. I haven’t published it, mainly for fear people will not want to read it, but now I think maybe I should.

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  26. Hey everyone, I just want to share a different take on this subject. Strength and vulnerability go hand in hand. Vulnerability is always present, but it’s our relationship to it that can grow.

    We can be warriors with soft hearts. This post has some commentary from Ronda Rousey, reflections on female role models, and a link to a story about Ronda during a tender exchange with a fan. Much love!

    https://natashaiterry.wordpress.com/2015/08/16/stand-up-women/

    Liked by 1 person

  27. In was immediately drawn to read your post as soon as I saw the title “Daring Greatly” I am a big fan of Brene Brown. I also recently started a blog to help me cope with the recent loss of my husband and past traumas that I apparently never took the time to grieve. I have only let a select few know I started blogging. Fear of criticism regarding grammar or simply thinking no one wants to hear me drone on about my past and present pain. Those thoughts reminded me of what I read in Ms. Brown’s books but still I hesitate. I’m not ready to post my link on my FB page but I do want to thank you for the extra reminder to Dare Greatly.

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  28. I love Brown’s work, especially Daring Greatly. So much so that my husband and I have been in the midst of a year long. Over the past few months we have chosen one of Brené Brown‘s “Guideposts for Wholehearted Living” as a lens through which to see our adventures and encounters in Peace Corps Nicaragua, and as a discussion topic for our readers. It’s challenged us to keep our posts more real, as it’s tempting to just write about the high points of being a Peace Corps Volunteer.

    If your interested in checking out our Wholehearted Living series, head to http://maywesuggest.org/peace-corps/journeying-towards-wholehearted-living/

    Thanks for helping spread Brown’s ideas. When we seek vulnerability, we choose to embrace all that makes us human. We connect. We open ourselves to a world of emotions and experiences that otherwise we try to hide.

    As you said, blogging in itself can be vulnerable. But it’s so worth it.

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  29. I find your writing and passion extremely real and inspirational. My work and passion is universal astrology, which is aligned with providing our soul with how to understand who we are within our natural self. The Art of Vulnerability helps us to recognize how we can feel safe and secure in expressing our true feelings. It is definitively worth it. Thank you. Rhoda Gelman

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