VULNERABILITY when EXPRESSING YOURSELF (Ouch?)

In a Book Club meeting this week (I'm in 3 Book Clubs now) we were discussing the humorous, newly published book, "THE ROSIE PROJECT" by Graeme Simsion.  Yes, I do recommend it.

As we delved into the topic of "vulnerability", one of the gals shared a cute story about a girl on her wedding night, taking off one wedding dress at a time (she had 10 of them, layered over top of one another.......  ok, just go with me on this one, it's a story......) as her new husband (a Dragon), peeled off his armor, one piece at a time. They took turns shedding their "exteriors"....... until they were "completely vulnerable".

We continued to share thoughts on how tough it can be to be vulnerable with others - to "expose ourselves" (not physically; yet THAT could be worse - ha!) and how thankful one can be for a spouse/partner/friend/family member with whom one can be completely honest/"vulnerable".  Perhaps that comfortable space is the result of the miracle of unconditional love; however, not everyone has this good fortune.  But don't we all have the need (at least from time to time) to express ourselves honestly without being judged?

When you are in front of another person, body language can be telling and often quite intimidating, whether you visually recognize it or not.  Now, with social media, there's an outlet for expressing one's feelings without another person staring you in the face.  This can be good and this can be bad.  Whether it's in a personal letter, on Facebook or expressed in a blog post, remember to "mind your words"....... there's usually a person, with feelings, reading those words.

Some of my Fellow Bloggers, who I met online in a wonderful Blogging course - Blog With Pip, have expressed a fear - "What if there is no feedback on my Blog?" (see the "Comments" button/section below, at the end of each Blog post?).  If, as a Blogger you receive NO feedback on a post, does that mean that what you have shared is not well received?  NO.  But as a result of no feedback, do you feel intimidated and crawl back into your shell? DON'T do it!!  It's my opinion that the number of "comments" you receive on a blog post has little to do with how your shared topic/opinion has been received.  

Consider this - every time you read a book, do you take the time to write to the author and share with him/her your fabulous (or perhaps not so fabulous) reaction?  Every time you hear a song, do you contact the singer and/or songwriter?  I think not.  People are BUSY.  In addition, not everyone is confident about putting into writing his/her impressions about what you've posted - plus it takes time to formulate thoughts, write the thoughts down, proof what is written, etc.

So, Fellow Bloggers and social media participants - BE VULNERABLE.  Enjoy the space that has been given to each of us "to write" and "to share".  We live in an incredible world with boundless opportunities.  With the written (or spoken) word, we all are given the power to have a positive impact on someone.  Just be mindful of what you put into writing - as my father used to remind us kids, "Don't put anything into writing that you wouldn't want to see on the front page of the Newspaper!" ("back in the day" when newspapers were the primary mode of news communication).  

You get the picture............