A while ago, I went with a friend (check out her blog: Knit Me A Cake )
to what I understood to be a folk gig at an open mic style event in a pub, it turned out to be a village talent show. One that I myself didn't have to be part of, just observe.
What I saw was a group of people, no more than 50 of them, from one tiny village in rural Surrey, having the best time, at an event that for an outsider seemed really quite bizarre, and lacking in the level of talent I thought I was going to be entertained by that evening. Don't get me wrong there was indeed some gifts floating around but for the most part it was awful jokes and awkwardness.
As I watched a beautiful thing began to unravel before me. Wrapped up tightly hidden among the crass jokes and the village banter was something deeper, more profound, something that in reflection I believe we are severely lacking today in our lives. The very essence of community, no barriers, no walls, no wriggling away from the fact that community means giving, even when you think what you have to give is nothing special. It's saying its alright to mess up, to get it wrong, or to never really get it quite right, but giving it a go anyway, knowing that amongst it all you are loved no matter what you share.
We need to have less barriers, less fear & more vulnerability. Nothing of vulnerability is showy, arrogant or about pushing past someone else on the way to the top (whatever that may be or mean). Vulnerability is about acknowledging our downfalls, and our gifts, its about telling the stories in our lives of bravery & courage, even if the ending is nothing like that of a fairy tale.
I don't want to be focused, as I was when I entered that village talent contest, on how lacking people are, how imperfect they are, or how they haven't got it quite right. I want to enter peoples lives and remain alongside people in the belly laughter, the joy, the tears and the brave hearts that win battles every moment of every day in spite of themselves. I want to laugh at bad jokes, and smile at lives that are so out of tune they hurt your ears, but that deep in its very core there is belonging, vulnerability & joy.
"Embracing our vulnerabilities is risky but not nearly as dangerous as giving up on love and belonging and joy—the experiences that make us the most vulnerable. Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.”BrenĂ© Brown
