DATA WITH A SOUL

Casandra Brené Brown is a woman who has inspired me beyond all measure with her eloquent articulation of human emotions.
She is an American professor, lecturer, author, and podcast host.

Brené Brown has revealed to the world that there is strength in vulnerability.
For the past 20 years, she has been researching courage, vulnerability, shame, and empathy, and her research touched hearts around the world for the first time when she shared it in what is now one of the world's top-five most-watched TED Talks, The Power of Vulnerability.

Brené calls herself a researcher and a storyteller, which may seem contradictory at first glance.
After all, data tends to tell us something about society or humanity as a whole, while personal stories focus more on the individual experience.

Brené, on the other hand, calls her stories "data with a soul."
Her area of specialization is qualitative research and in particular, grounded theory (GT), which is a method that focuses first on observation and people's lived experiences, and only then starts developing a theory.
As opposed to methods where you start with a theory and then go out into the world to prove or disprove it.

The subject that Brené Brown originally set out to investigate is "connection" – referring to the cohesion and meaningful connections between people.

And it was during that research that she discovered the fear that consumed most people: the fear that something within us, something we are, where we come from, things we do or don’t do, that somehow make us unworthy of love and impossible to be with.

There are many emotions at play when this fear arises, and the emotion that fills the most is a shame – one of the most complex and nuanced emotions we experience.

WE MUST DARE TO BE VULNERABLE

Shame causes great discomfort and triggers avoidance behavior, just like physical pain does, causing us to expend enormous amounts of energy compensating and trying to fit in.

It is a heavy emotional burden to carry, one which eats away at our sense of self.

Fitting in is about assessing a situation and becoming who you need to be accepted.

Belonging, on the other hand, doesn't require us to change who we are; it requires us to be who we are.
Feel seen, heard, and valued as we are.
- Brené Brown

Brené describes shame as an invisible epidemic and the driving force behind many of the behavioral patterns that we would instead discard.

The solution, according to Brené Brown, is to understand our emotions and build a form of resilience to shame by cultivating courage and compassion and embracing our vulnerability.

In her book Rising Strong, she writes that vulnerability is "having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome."

And in her latest book on living a wholehearted life, Atlas of the Heart, Brené defines a total of 87 different emotions. Some are instantly recognizable, but many are difficult for most people to identify and put into words.

Being able to distinguish one feeling from another, to recognize the subtle nuances of our emotions, is just as important to our well-being and freedom to live a good life as having an accurate perception, or mental map, of our body.

The better you get to know your emotions, the greater the freedom of action you experience.
The better you get to know your body in different situations, the greater the freedom of movement you have, and the more strength you gain access to.

This tribute is to Brené Brown for revealing the link between strength and vulnerability!

P.S. I highly recommend reading/watching/listening to Brené Brown regularly.
It always provides a huge energy boost and ignites the courage to unfold one's whole self.

Find her TED Talks video here, her lecture titled The Call to Courage on Netflix, the educational series Atlas of the Heart on HBO Max, and her books are available from all major online retailers.