I am a bit of an Amanda Palmer fan. She is a singer/songwriter who really puts herself out there. She has the ability to make me laugh or cry, not every time, but with enough regularity that she must be tapping into something very raw and human. So, I pay some attention when she produces something. I am on her mailing list and I get a notice from her (she writes infrequently) that she has a new book coming out. Now I know this because I have read what she and others have written about how she twisted her life around in order to be able to write it. So I get this notice which basically just tells me it how to get my hands on hew new book. Now, honestly, I am not that interested in her book. I saw her TED talk on the topic and I was wholly satisfied by that. I am not interested in more details or the broader ramifications or how I too can put this into practice in my own life. I got what I think I needed to know from her TED talk. So I am looking at the cover to her book which is so Amanda Palmer (painted writing on naked skin - human parchment), and I notice the forward is written by Brene Brown. Now, Amanda's husband is Neil Gaiman, a pretty famous writer, but she's got some other person doing the forward which makes me curious so I google her, as one does when you have no idea who a person is but maybe should. Up pops Brene Brown's TED talk. So I am feeling a little guilty about my intention not to buy Amanda's book after she worked so hard on it and e-mailed me and all, so I decide I'll look at Brene's TED talk on vulnerability - not my usual fair. So, I watch the TED talk, find some non-obvious truths there to which I happen to ascribe and decide to share it with you. You may already know all these truths but sometimes its nice to get a little affirmation about why we keep putting ourselves out there and getting our hearts roughed up a little.
