We’ve come to the end of The Failure Project. Dry your tears and keep reading. I decided to conclude the project with one of my favorite Ladies, Brené Brown.



A Brief Bio:
Brené Brown, Ph.D., LMSW is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. She has spent the past ten years studying vulnerability, courage, authenticity, and shame.

Brené spent the first five years of her decade-long study focusing on shame and empathy, and is now using that work to explore a concept that she calls Wholeheartedness. She poses the questions:

How do we learn to embrace our vulnerabilities and imperfections so that we can engage in our lives from a place of authenticity and worthiness?

How do we cultivate the courage, compassion, and connection that we need to recognize that we are enough – that we are worthy of love, belonging, and joy? 

 

I admire Brené, she’s as ‘real’ as they come. She holds a Ph.D, she writes, and she travels like mad person. But she’s also a wife and a mother. In these ways she is very much like my mom. In fact, my mom brought her to my attention many years ago.

So you’ll grasp the full gravity of my next statement, mind growing up with a shrink for a mom wasn’t easy. We were always called upon to self evaluate and live authentically. Toss in the perverse amount of medical conferences and lectures I swore I’d never inflict on my spawn, and I’d say my siblings and I are pretty well rounded.

Okay, back on topic…



Since my introduction, I’ve attended two of her speaking engagements. We laughed our hearts out! And when she blurted out, “Hey. I spank my kids.” I knew she was the real deal. None of that Oprah ‘let’s hope our kids don’t stab us in our sleep’ crap! I implore you watch her speech in its entirety and feel free to share with your friends and family.

I won’t bore you with a long summation of The Failure Project on the grounds there isn’t one. I undertook this venture as a way of relighting someone’s, anyone’s candle of hope. No more, no less. I will leave you with something my mom taught us early on:

Fear and courage are the same pot of soup. Fear is the transparent broth—easily accessible and unsustainable; you will feel the pangs of hunger again. Courage lies at the bottom of the pot—amongst the meat and vegetables; it’s sustainable and sticks to your bones. But you have to lean over a bit, out of your comfort zone, and run the risk of being burned by fear to get to it.

Keep going, folks. It’s there and it's worth it.