The material for today's issue was provided by long time reader
Valerie Cooper.
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from
www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/12/11/brene-brown-rsa-animated/
Brené Brown on Vulnerability,
Human Connection, and the Difference Between
Empathy and Sympathy, Animated
by
Maria Popova
In 2010, shame and empathy researcher
Dr. Brené Brown gave us the wonderful
and
culturally necessary
The Gifts of
Imperfection, exploring the uncomfortable
vulnerability and self-acceptance required in order to truly
connect with
others. In this charming short film, the folks of the Royal
Society for the
encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, better-known as
the RSA, put a
twist on their usual live-illustrated gems and take a page out of
the TED-Ed
book, teaming up with animator Katy Davis to bring to life an
excerpt from
Brown’s longer talk on the power of vulnerability and the
difference between
empathy and sympathy, based on her most recent self-helpy-sounding
but
enormously insightful and rigorously researched book,
Daring
Greatly: How the
Courage to Be
Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead
(public library).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evwgu369Jw
"The truth
is, rarely can a response make something better — what makes
something
better is
connection."
And that connection often requires mutual vulnerability. Brown
writes in
Daring
Greatly:
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.
[…]
Vulnerability
is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy,
accountability,
and authenticity. If we want greater clarity in our purpose or
deeper and
more meaningful spiritual lives, vulnerability is the path.
Watch Brown’s full RSA talk below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXSjc-pbXk4