As somebody who interviewed top world leaders during the 60‘s, 70‘s and 80‘s, including Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979 & North Vietnamese General Vo Nguyen Giap during the Vietnam War, Italian journalist Oriana Fallaci, might know a thing or two about courage and fear.
The idea of courage and fear coexisting and even going hand-in-hand might not be a new one, but it has enjoyed more popularity lately thanks to the work of Dr. Brené Brown, who came into the spotlight for her TEDx talk on vulnerability, and her appearances on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, and Lifeclass.
She is also the author of several books, notably “The Gifts of Imperfection” and her most recent “Daring Greatly.” One of the central points of her research is the idea that vulnerability is not weakness, but rather being authentic and willing to stand up and be seen, and in order to be vulnerable, one must be courageous. Being courageous does not require eliminating fear, but rather embracing it and using it to one’s advantage. The truly courageous experience fear, but act anyway, using their core values as guides to keep them “on course.”
Often times, we experience fear in the face of our soul’s greatest desires, so turning away from fear is essentially denying ourselves the joy of life’s most fulfilling experiences. In an effort to say “yes” more fully to life -vulnerability and fear included- I’ve made the commitment to be more courageous and make some “big jumps.”
This must be an important lesson in my life at the moment, because it seems to be popping up everywhere I turn. (Ok Universe, you got my attention!)
In addition to the above Oriana Fallaci quote (which I found researching something completely unrelated for my Italian language learning blog Didattichiamo!) – recently, Mom discovered the artist Emiliana Torrini and in particular her song “Big Jumps” (which we included as our song recommendation in Volume No. 01 ~ Issue 03 of our digital magazine, pgs 11-12.)
I reacted immediately to the song and analyzing it a bit more in depth, it’s easy to see why: it encapsulates the themes of being courageous and daring in a straightforward and simple way, and sets these “lofty” themes to an upbeat tune and a charming video.
lift my heart
dancing with
in dreams.
happiness is real.
jumps, big jumps
some bones?
jumps, big jumps
your head up high
Do do do do do, do do do
confused.
that I
the way.
always is the same.
jumps, big jumps
some bones?
jumps, big jumps
your head up high
Do do do do do, do do do
clockwork will stop.
winding up my heart.
don’t wind me up
me like a
never rise again.
never rise…
my heart.
but it goes so fast.
feeling old.
rubbish that they sold.
jumps, big jumps
some bones?
jumps, big jumps
your head up high
Here’s to all of our next big jumps!
images by lb for linenandlavender.net
