Insecurities

If I started a YouTube channel, the first video I would make is about insecurities, in particular my own. No one thinks about our own insecurities more than ourselves. And I think part of the reason why is because talking about them is kind of taboo. I don’t want to burden others with my problems…at least that’s what I’ll often tell myself. But the issue is not about other people, it’s about ourselves. I think the real reason we don’t like to talk about them is because it makes us vulnerable. We are scared to share certain parts about ourselves because we are unsure about how people will react. And social media has only worked to perpetuate this problem. Because God forbid I post something that deviates from the carefully crafted persona I have created for myself online and in-person.

Why is this such a scary thought? Why is vulnerability so scary?

Before we get there I am going to be “that guy” just because I think its interesting and because I took Latin (Shoutout to Mr. O’Donnell), but the word vulnerable comes from the Latin word vulnus, which means wound, a physical wound. Nowadays the phrase, “letting your guard down” is probably more commonly used in the context of emotional vulnerability rather than physical. So why in heck’s name do we associate our feelings with bodily harm?

When we talk about insecurities or anything personal we allow others to know the weak spots in our mental suit of armor. That knowledge could fall into the wrong hands and we could get seriously injured…emotionally. And we all know having emotions mean you are weak. Having emotions means that we are irrational and unstable…so better not risk it.

At least that’s one way to think. But we all have insecurities, we all have emotions, we are all human. So why not celebrate or at least be open about them? We all think we have it worse than the next guy, but the thing is he thinking the same thing.

We our often so focused on ourselves that we don’t even think about what other people may be feeling.

I’m a big believer in the idea that once you get something off your chest and out in the open, you worry and stress about it much less (I’m a believer through experience). So if we allow ourselves to air our insecurities we may just start to think little less about ourselves, giving us more room to build some empathy.

Of course there are certain details about ourselves that are need-to-know only or that would be considered TMI, but in the case of insecurities I think that if you ever find yourself at a place (not necessarily physically) where you have the compulsion and the ability to share it, I encourage you to do so.

We tell ourselves that the easy thing to do is to “be strong,” to suppress those insecurities and bottle them up tightly…but when has that ever turned out well for the bottle?