by Michelle Andreani

I’m trying to make this a short intro because I really, really, really just want you to watch this video. Especially if you’re someone who, like me, struggles with self-worth and those three slippery words: “I am enough.”

In her powerful TED Talk, Brené Brown calls people who feel worthy of love and belonging “the Wholehearted.” (Which I. am. crazy. about. The Wholehearteds sounds like the coolest club ever!) She also discusses human connection, and how she discovered, through research, that vulnerability might be at the center of it all. Vulnerability is an incredibly significant topic for me, both personally and fictionally — one of our characters has her own vulnerability issues (teaser!), and I am so glad my own research led me to this. I felt understood as I listened. I feel like I can understand more as I write.

Now, I know it’s twenty minutes long, and you’re like, “That’s 19:30 minutes too long for something on YouTube without cats, you monster!” But I promise! Brené is so engaging and funny and she speaks DIRECTLY TO YOUR SOUL and you will possibly spend many more minutes afterward looking up every other thing she has done ever. Like I did!

Anyway. I stumbled on this when I very much needed to hear these things, and I thought you might need to hear these things. So, here. ❤