How Authenticity & Vulnerability Pay Off - Part 1

What if being vulnerable isn’t a weakness, but one of our greatest strengths? I recently sat down, turned on my camera, and started talking about something very close to my heart. Authenticity, vulnerability, and how learning to embrace both can change our lives personally and professionally.

Transcript

I felt it was important to just. . . Turn the camera on and roll. So here we are going through a few questions about being authentic and vulnerable and even laying it out on the line of some things that have influenced me and changed me and made me the person I am today. So I will share some of my story and I hope that you follow along with me. All my other art pieces, All my writing, All my videos and interviews and everything that's out there. To learn a little more about what I am, Who I am, And how I came to be where I am following my passion and living my purpose and being able to share it all with you. So I'm hoping that I can inspire and empower someone along the way and let me know if anything resonates. Yeah, Enjoy. So this is me just. . . Grabbing my camera and. . . Turning it on. So especially for this topic, I thought it was important just to, When the moment struck, Just roll with it. As we are talking about being authentic and vulnerable in this. Video. This is me being my authentic self. And unpolished. You know, Imperfect. And just rolling with life, Just flowing. So nothing scripted, Nothing planned, Just whatever. I say, I say it. So when I have time to actually write things out and think about things, Everything sounds a little more polished and put together. But for this particular video, I thought it might be fun and very vulnerable to just turn the camera on and start recording and see what happens. So. Hope you like it. A little bit about my childhood background. I grew up in Saskatchewan. I was the second child of five. I have an older brother, A younger brother, And twin sisters who are younger. For the early part of my childhood, We grew up on a farm. And some of the fond memories I have were from harvest time. I really enjoyed being out in the field and riding in the combine or the swather. And it was just really fun for me. I loved eating out in the field as well, So we'd go out there for lunches and supper time and I just found it was really fun and it was one of those things that I truly enjoyed during those times. However, Every now and then at lunchtime when we were going out to the field, I had to make a choice of whether to stay home and watch the Flintstones or go out to the field. Back then we didn't have the luxury of recording our TV shows, So I never wanted to miss my episode of the Flintstones at lunchtime. So that really has stuck with me. I also remember following my brother around a lot. My older brother was the only playmate I had. We lived out on the farm and, You know, If I wanted to play with someone, It had to be him. So we would go out to the bushes surrounding the farm and we'd just make forts and chop down trees. Make our own fun. And so that was always cool. But I loved Barbies and he would always say to me, I will play Barbies with you if you play cars with me. So he had these matchbox cars. So I would always say, Yeah, Okay, I'll play cars with you and then we'll play Barbies afterwards. But every time that we played cars, By the time we were done, He would say, Well, I'm done playing now. And then he wouldn't play Barbies with me. But yeah, So that was really fun. We used to make snow forts in the wintertime and there was always something to do out on the farm and get into trouble. Going back to, You know, Farming and harvest time. I do remember the flax fields, Though. They were so beautiful in bloom. And they smelled incredible. I still remember that smell when I'm driving down. The highway, And there's a farmer's field in Bloom, A flax field in Bloom. It just takes me back to that time of my life. My favorite life quotes, So I have so many. One is that I spent so much of my life being strong for others that my greatest lesson was learning how to give myself the same strength and kindness and compassion that I deserve. You know, I do feel that along the way we push through and. We don't give ourselves the same kindness sometimes that we give to others, Especially if you're a person like me who is a giver and likes to do everything for others and be that strong. Support system for everyone. Recognizing that you need to do that for yourself as well was an important life lesson, And I learned it later on in life. I still learned it. So instead of giving away all of my energy and strength and kindness and support to everyone else, I have really become so invested in myself, In my self-care, And making sure that I'm looked after first. A particular film that influenced me and made a significant impact, It's actually a book and a movie, Was Eat, Pray, Love. So that was very significant for me. It just resonated on so many levels. So many levels and You know, Being that I went on my own self discovery journey, It really hit home for me and how you know, Going through uncertain times and having the courage to Push through, Push forward. You know, Fearlessly is, That's a big deal, Right? So, And even when you don't know what's ahead, What lies ahead and what you know changes are going to happen along the way you just flow with it and trust that you're being guided in the right direction and that movie I've seen it a hundred times and every time I take something away from it and every time I get emotional and it's just one of those One of those films that just really gets you in the feelers, Right? So it really touches my heart. And I really resonate with that because I made so many changes and had the courage just to go for it. That movie and the book have really been a big part of that and just believing in yourself There's always room for change and improvement and being more generous with yourself. Right, And taking that time to that reflect, Do that self-reflection and understand what you need and how to get there. And taking the steps to do that, It takes a lot of courage, But it's very rewarding on the other side.