To see and be seen. That is the truest nature of love.
—Brené Brown

Have the Courage to Show Up

Recently I read Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience. Early in the book, I paused as I read this:

In a world where perfectionism, pleasing, and proving are used as armor to protect our egos and our feelings, it takes a lot of courage to show up and be all in when we can’t control the outcome.

It’s a long sentence and easy to rush through, like we often do with so many things in life that we think take too much time. But, let’s slow it down a little.

Perfectionism, pleasing, and proving are used like armor. Armor is heavy. Medieval armor weighed around 50 pounds. That is the same amount of weight as a large bag of dog food that I buy for my German shepherd every month. I can’t imagine walking around with that much weight on my shoulders. We do it, though. Perfectionism, pleasing, and proving are heavy.

The sentence continues:

…it takes a lot of courage to show up and be all in when we can’t control the outcome.

If we’ve learned anything in the last few years, it is this: We cannot control the outcome. There are things in life that happen, and they are uncontrollable. I paused at this sentence in Atlas of the Heart, because I’d never considered how much courage it takes to show up when we can’t control the outcome.

More than ever, we need courage when we show up at school. The summer is winding down, and things are shifting inside our hearts. There is joy in starting a new school year and setting things in motion. There is also a lot that it is out of our control. May we all have the courage to show up and be all in.

Shine on,
Ruth Ayres
Editor in Chief