Thursday 2 April 2015

Vulnerability




It takes a certain privilege to talk about vulnerability, the way Brene Brown talks about it, like it’s the answer to all life’s problems. I come from a country were ideas like, vulnerability, human rights, women empowerment and appreciation of fine arts is a privilege. The ideas mentioned are all true proofs of social class, not wealth but class. You may have lots of money, but decide to live in a hut; walk barefooted or eat with your hands. It doesn’t make you a humble wealthy person; it means you fear that the food may run away if you waste time with utensils.
Most people believe that the deciding factors of true class boils down to three things, skin complexion, gadgets and accents. Skin complexion; bleaching because having a dark complexion means that we stand under the blazing sun all day but we need to look like we just got out of an air conditioned car going into our air conditioned homes. Accents; there are only two people that have the right to have American or British accents. If you were borne and breed or if you have dual citizenship from any of the stated nationalities, other countries don’t apply. With that being said, how come no one comes back with an Indian, Chinese, Germany or Arabian accent after 4 years of schooling but develop Yankee and Janded accents after 2 weeks of vacation? Gadgets; owning a phone, laptop, tab, worth more than 3 months of your salary is only advisable when you know it’s going to yield profit, if it’s just a loss, which is always the case, then you’re just being stupid.
Vulnerability isn’t just a privilege but something you have to work very hard for. You must be strong, very strong, you must beat all odds, shame the doubters before you begin to realize that you have to slow down, let people in, seek advice, ask for help and be humble. My mother always told me, God reminds over achievers, great men and women of industry that they are human by making them ill. Your system shuts down and stops functioning properly when it’s been worked to its limits without proper care. You have to burn, before you burn up and after burning up, using everything that is within you, then you earn the privilege of vulnerability.