Here we go again! Today I’m going to unusually start with a topic: vulnerability.
Look folks, for a really long time and in many circles today, any transparency about your life, or God forbid, your mistakes, can be misconstrued as weakness. Taboo. But the world has changed, as it should have. “Life ain’t just sunshine and rainbows.” In 2021, people don’t want that petty bulls**t. People have seen enough faking on the internet. It’s boring, tired, and provably ineffective.
We want something “real.” In this context that’s going to mean genuine, where folks broadcast the same things they live every day. But moreover I see this as part of the trends we’re seeing where folks have indicated they prefer to purchase goods from businesses whose values align with their own.
Sure, this effect polarized the country, but perhaps that was the inevitable effect of the internet. It didn’t make us worse, but it gave us access to new ways of connecting with people who lived too far away to even be aware of. It let us see what businesses are doing, and what the people behind them believe.
What I’m trying to say is that before now, it was not only possible, but ENCOURAGED to hide what matters to you in the shadows. And especially so for anyone who isn’t a white dude.
Say what you will about “virtue signaling”, that stuff works. But a values forward approach to life only works if you are actually living those values. By transforming ideas into action.
I’m running out of time for today’s free write, and “values” as a concept could be another entire topic. But for now, I’ll say that being a genuine, vulnerable, and real person on the internet and otherwise is important to me.
It’s really a goal to strive for. Am I really going to broadcast the mistakes I make (which I will and do make), however painful?
At the end of the day, I also believe it’s impossible to “PR” your way out of the worst mistakes. And really, if you do what is right and you avoid those mistakes in the first place, you won’t have to!
Anyways time to start the day. Have a great Thursday y’all.
