Last night I was speaking with a friend at a party about an experience I was having and the shame I felt around admitting that to her. She told me later not only how much she appreciated my share but also how hearing me speak so openly about my feelings of shame gave her permission and self acceptance around sharing her own feelings of shame with those she cared about.
It was not always easy for me to share my shame stories and in fact it is still not always easy. It's something I still actively work on. And while the stories may still come up, more often than not, I can use them as a healing experience rather than a distancing one.
At it's core, shame says we are wrong, bad, less than or not enough. Shame is trying to protect us by telling us we are deficient in our core and so we must hide those parts of ourselves lest we be rejected. The problem is those shame stories cause us to reject parts of ourselves out of fear that others will reject us if we show those parts.
So you don't give ourselves the opportunity to shine your inner light.
But what I've found over and over again is when I share the things I feel shame around, even though there is typically a fear in the moment, a voice screaming for me "not" to say the thing, most of the time it ends up in greater connection. It ends up with people trusting me more, feeling closer to me and like last night feeling a sense of self acceptance around their own shame stories or insecurities.
At the core, that acceptance of our imperfect human experience and our shame stories so we can show up as fully as we desire is at the heart of both my coaching program and my podcast both entitled "Permission To Be Your FULL Self".
So come join us tomorrow on zoom as we listen to my first episode together and work towards healing our collective shame as we discuss what arises as we listen. I look forward to sharing with you.
Join the Permission To Be Your Full Self Listening Party!
Come hang out for a 90-minute Zoom event where we'll listen to the first powerful episode of Permission To Be Your Full Self.
Pausing throughout, we'll dive into an open discussion around the topics of self-acceptance, letting go of fear, and embracing the messy, beautiful experience of being a human as well as anything else that arises for you as we listen.
If you've ever felt held back by self-doubt or the fear of being judged, this is a space to connect, reflect, and celebrate ourselves.
Date: Sunday March 2nd
Time: 4:30 - 6:00pm
Where: On zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/7329581301?omn=82965725343
"Owning our story can be hard but not nearly as difficult as spending our lives running from it."
- Brené Brown