March 16, 2012
By Matt Palmer
There are many great TED talks, and like many people I have anxiously awaited the new videos from this years conference. This TED talk by Brene Brown has the potential to reach so many people in a profound way. How we deal with and feel about our own shame can either control or transform how we interact with others, and ourselves.
Dr Brown’s message also has incredible resonance for the narrative that I am building on global energy. Of the many profound statements she makes in her talk, one that was most powerful to me was this, “Vulnerability is not weakness, it is the birthplace of creativity and innovation”.
How does this resonate for you?
Unintended Consequences Documentary Project 
Matt. I was reading some Ranier Marie Rilke this morning and after listening to Brene Brown was reminded of this quote:
“Do not assume that she who seeks to comfort you now, lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. Her life may also have much sadness and difficulty, that remains far beyond yours. Were it otherwise, she would never have been able to find these words”
― Rainer Maria Rilke
We are a legion of beings with a capacity for empathy precisely because the most beautiful find is a vulnerable human heart. And in the presence of beauty and vulnerability, shame and fear of failure shrink. It is the same feeling in the face of awe, like a dawn run when the world still sleeps and you alone witness the first light of a new day as though once again, absolutely anything is possible and who are you to think that you should do anything other than ‘dare greatly.’
Thanks for the post. And continue to be the man in the arena, to dare greatly. Perhaps one day you too can speak at TED, the Failure Convention.
Thanks Carla. Great quote from Rilke. Great poet.
In my time exploring shame, my guru is teaching me that Shame is our Divine Essence or spirit. If you think of where you feel shame in your body, that is your essence trying to get your attention if you will. Try focusing on that energy and then letting go of the story that is attached to shame, and concentrate on the energy and how it feels. “Being not good enough” is a story that we have attached to our Divine Essence.