Friday reflection

Unabashed expression

Hi gang,

I decided to play with doing this week’s reflection in video format — you’ll find it below. I know it’s longer at 10 minutes than 1-3 minute videos that tend to work best online, but I’m including it for my paid subscribers because the things I share are important and the way I share them is heartfelt.

I’m also including it because the topic of the video is wishing that more women would dare to express themselves in authentic, unfiltered, unabashed ways… so it seems fitting to share a video that breaks the cardinal rule of “winning” the internet, which is to keep everything bite-sized. I confess, my fear of “rambling” has led me to self-censor in too many contexts in this life. If I could take the phrase “bottom-line your ideas” and burn it in a trash heap, I would, because people do not think in bullet points and we never access our most profound, insightful, creative ideas when we feel pressured to wrap it up already.

Now of course, given my communications background and my love of the written word, I am not saying there isn’t room for editing in this world, or for taking time to think about what you want to express and then expressing it with intention, or with respect for the other person’s time. There’s room for all of that. But too many women only exist in that space. We’re so concerned with not burdening people by asking them to listen to us that we never even figure out what we want to say. We go through life unsure of what it is we’re even thinking or feeling, in part because we never let ourselves just EXPRESS.

We can never get to the amazing edited version if we don’t even let ourselves create the rough draft. And if we don’t have people in our lives with whom we can be in rough draft mode, then we suffer for it. What’s more, sometimes the beauty is in the draft. Sometimes when we edit all the mess away, we lose some of the power.

Video below for paid subscribers! Note, if you’re a free subscriber: Subscriptions are only $5.99/month, and really help me take time away from paid client work to create content; thank you in advance if you decide to invest in content like this. You can upgrade your subscription here.

So here’s my too-long-to-be-clickable video for you, in all its messy glory (it’s not that messy, really, and it comes from the heart, and I promise it will get you thinking). And here’s my invitation to you: Dare to express yourself, uncensored, at least once this week. If you feel yourself saying something that isn’t what you really mean, recalibrate, and try again. If you notice yourself writing something like “previous demonstrated experience excelling at” — hit backspace on your keyboard, hard, and write it the way you talk. Put something on LinkedIn that you really, truly care about, not that you think is the right thing for someone in your position to share. Raise your hand and be willing to disagree instead of fuming quietly and complaining later. Admit that you love a dorky song. Keep talking until you’re done, instead of cutting yourself off because you assume other people are hoping you’ll wrap it up. BE. YOU.

You are a mighty force -

Amanda