Radical Vulnerability Online
I’m a sitting duck.
Since 1997, I have been writing about my life very candidly, publicly on the internet for an audience. This is news to literally no one reading this, obviously, but have you ever wondered why I compulsively overshare and practice radical vulnerability on the internet on a scale even Brené Brown might find alarming?
It’s because somehow, despite having no religious upbringing of any kind, never having been to a church service outside of weddings, or even opened a bible, I heard the idea of Jesus saying that if someone slaps you, you offer up the other cheek so they can slap that one too. I’m more or less an atheist, I don’t even believe Jesus was a real person in history, but to this day, no other like, life philosophy has ever made more sense to me. In Sunny terms: if you attack me, but I roll over, show you my belly & refuse to fight, and you turn around & tear my guts out anyway, then guess who the asshole is like, on a cosmic level? That’s a stain you can’t just wash off! A person has to atone for that stuff!
There are many more layers than this, but if someone decides to take advantage of my vulnerability, be an asshole anyway, and succeeds in murdering me, then I guess that’s just the way my story’s supposed to end, according to the Universe.
Feminists argue that in a perfect world, a woman/anyone SHOULD be able to walk naked, in the middle of a public street, without being shamed, harassed or assaulted, right? Well here I am & here I’ve been “walking” literally naked down Main St., Global Internet in some weird experiment of my own design, for almost 25 yrs &…I just realized this is probably why my editor friend, Brad King, wants me to write a book rather than “wasting” these epiphanies on the internet. 😂 But epiphanies on this, I have MANY!
Have I been attacked while being naked, wounded & vulnerable on the internet? For sure! But I did the biggest damage to myself by not having a therapist while doing this weird, experimental thing I do with no compass. I’ve learned that you can be radically vulnerable to large groups of people & still inoculate yourself against assholes with a good therapist. 😉 People should be assigned therapists at birth! 🤷🏼♀️