Vulnerability, Authenticity and Passsion

The ashes were still smoldering when the phone call came through at eight on a cold, brisk morning. I was still shaking the cobwebs out of my brain and trying to absorb the words that were being shared on the other end of the line.

"The house burnt to the ground?" I manged to stammer out loud with, "Is everyone okay?" The reply was a quiet, " I don't know if everyone got out."

Stunned, I quickly dressed and rushed to my car to drive the short one mile to where the fire occurred. There was the family, standing in the cold, wearing just pajamas and jackets that they had time to grab, looking at what was once their home and business. Everyone was safe including the cats. With one family member recovering from cancer the devastation of another tragedy on this family was hard to comprehend.

In the following days, the community surrounded the family with an outpouring of love, food, clothing and offers for places to live. The family had a hard time accepting all of the well wishes, gifts and visits, including complete strangers who offered a hand.

Why is it that so many of us have a hard time accepting support? Why do we find it so hard to be in a position to need the help of others? My belief is that when we need help due to a devastating fire, a job loss, a divorce, a death in our family or a diagnosis of an illness, we become vulnerable. And, when we are vulnerable we are left with just our core being exposed. For many of us, this is when we are our most authentic self. We cannot hide, we cannot mask what is happening to us and we need (although we push it away) the help of others.

In my last two blogs, I have encouraged you to create a vision for yourself and look at what you are passionate about in your life and work. Often times, if we reflect on the times when we were vulnerable and the most authentic, we will see where our passion lies. When we are vulnerable, we are often forced to look at what matters to us, who matters to us and reflect on how we want to spend our time.

After I lost my husband, I wanted to paint even though I had never painted before in my life. I reached out to a local artist. She helped me start and that was six years ago and I am so thankful and still painting. After my breast cancer, I wanted to write and share stories and here I am. When we are vulnerable, we may open up to new opportunities that allow our passion and our true authentic self shine through for all to see. Most importantly, it allows us to understand and see our core self.

I hope you are finding your passion through allowing yourself to be vulnerable and authentic and searching your soul for what motivates you in your work, relationships and life.