Dare to dive deep beneath the surface of things

THE CONNECTION BETWEEN VULNERABILITY AND WRITING YOUR LIFE STORY

There is an unavoidable connection between vulnerability and writing your life story. Writing will require courage to dive deep beneath the surface of things.

WHAT IS VULNERABILITY?

Dr. Brené Brown has the third most downloaded TED talk called ‘The Power of Vulnerability’. She explains that vulnerability is hard and one should embrace it, because it is also the birthplace of courage, connection, creativity, and innovation. To embrace your courage, vulnerability is required.

WHAT IS THE CONNECTION BETWEEN VULNERABILITY AND WRITING?

Anyone attempting a memoir or autobiography will intuitively understand the danger that lurks there.

To establish a timeline of events is the easy part. To clad those dates and events with description pushes you further. But it is in the real exploration of things under the surface, that courage comes into play.

A good writer reads a lot. If you recall the books that really spoke to you, they should have one thing in common: the writer dared to dive deep beneath the surface of things.

Such a dive into the most vulnerable parts of yourself and your life story does not come easy. You may come up often and gasp for air, wondering why on earth you ever wanted to explore. But the best writers will summon courage, adjust the goggles, and go right back.

You must “see” what happened, and relive the lived experience, to create a coherent story from it. And trust me, the words with which you are about to tell your story will come to you. Sometimes in the middle of the night, sometimes whilst you are driving, sometimes in an “aha” moment. Those experiences have been patiently waiting for you to put on your big boots and bring them to the surface.

WHAT HAPPENS ONCE YOU HAVE SURFACED WITH YOUR MEMORIES?

You find yourself a quiet space and start typing away, for those memories are not going to hang around forever. You want to commit them to paper straight away. It could be a paragraph`s worth of words, or a page, or a whole chapter. It could be key words that you could write down, which will jog your memory when you look at them again.

The sense of vulnerability will linger whilst you are writing.

THE SECOND PHASE OF VULNERABILITY WHEN WRITING

When you go back to read what you’ve written, a second wave of vulnerability will hit you. You have said too much, exposed too much of yourself or your situation, or exposed perpetrators in your personal story by name.

Take a deep breath. Settle down. You’ve done the deep dive, you’ve surfaced triumphantly. Nobody else is going to set eyes on this first draft of your story. But mark my words, without this painful exercise you cannot have a great book.

DARE TO DIVE DEEP BENEATH THE SURFACE OF THINGS

This call to courage when you write, will reward you in many ways.

The struggle today is one where life as we knew it, no longer exists. We have experienced a loss of people, connection, resources, and work-life balance. Life gets harder, and the courage to be resilient in the face of challenges is required.

Be vulnerable and courageous enough to invite yourself to write your life story. 

NEED A NUDGE AND A LIFE RAFT RIGHT NEXT TO YOU?

As an author myself I understand the tremors and forebodings all too well. But, as an author coach, I will be right there beside you, guiding you through the process.