Guilt: "I made a mistake." Shame: "I am a mistake."
Another great TED talk by Brene Brown. If you have not watched the first, "The Power of Vulnerability," please click the link and do so. It is amazing and serves as a great introduction to the video below. With that said, the following talk is one of the most powerful lectures ever given on the TED stage.
Brene Brown does a remarkable job drawing the line between guilt and shame. Then, she goes on to describe the crippling effect shame has on our lives. In short, it is the violent force that prevents us from embodying the fullness of who we are as a person; it is the vicious tendency to deny the spontaneous and primordial urge to be our Self, and attempts to pigeonhole us into some gender based cultural persona. However, it is not something that can be overcome by apathy. It is only empathy—a willingness to relate, on the spot—that is capable of treating shame.
Enjoy and please share.
