vulnerable
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Dear Unlearners,
Since I started writing again, I've been struggling with being more vulnerable. Great writing often requires vulnerability. It's what sets truly impactful work apart. People can easily copy your tone, voice, or how you optimize things. But it's a lot harder to copy life experiences. That's where the real connection happens.
The problem is, sharing can hurt people's feelings or cause future problems. It's a double edged sword. The more you share, the better your writing becomes. But you also become a bigger target for someone to drag you through the mud.
There's also this weird thing that happens as you become more successful. The more you have, the more closed off you become. Because there are more risks to everything. You have more to lose, more people watching, more potential for things to go wrong.
Especially after cancel culture became more common, being vulnerable has become much harder. There are people out there who take things out of context to create drama every day. Anything, good or bad, can be twisted. A harmless story from your past could become tomorrow's controversy.
We grow every day, but the internet sometimes refuses to take that into account. Our old posts, photos, or articles can resurface at any moment, like ghosts from the past. The person who wrote those words might be vastly different now, with new perspectives and experiences. Unfortunally, personal growth isn't always recognized.
We're often judged by our past selves, making the idea of sharing openly even more daunting. It's like we're expected to be perfect from the start, or never change our minds.
You want to share, connect, be real. But there's always that voice in the back of your head asking, "How's this gonna look in five years?"
It's exhausting, really.
It feels like we're in this strange place where vulnerability is more valuable than ever in writing, but also more dangerous.
There's no easy answer, but it takes time to get over all the fears. The more I share, the safer I feel. And I also realize it's okay to keep some things private. Vulnerability doesn't mean you have to share your entire life with the world.
Sharing our lives in today's world is like walking a tightrope. It's scary. It's risky, But when you get it right, it can be incredibly rewarding.
Relearn how to be vunelerable.
Until tomorrow,
Cammi
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Damn this one hits HARD. I love your point about the struggle over wanting to be vulnerable now to make your writing more interesting vs wondering will that vulnerability come back to harm your future self when you keep growing. Very interesting way to look at it. It’s definitely a fine line to walk, and you do it well, Cammi.
I struggle about this too before publishing an article including some personal stories.
One thing I can say is to trust your gut, if you don't feel comfortable sharing it, then don't! There's no gun to your chest if you don't