Today's blog post by Courtney Clark is the second in our series about the 2013 Texas Conference for Women. Check out the first blog in the series here. Come back next Tuesday to read the next blog in this series!
Courtney Clark is a cancer survivor, brain aneurysm survivor, and motivational speaker. She is currently researching the role of philanthropy and volunteerism in
helping people heal from traumatic life events. Courtney is a nonprofit entrepreneur
and development professional proficient in board training, fundraising,
outreach, and community relations.
I have to confess. At
last week’s Texas Conference for Women, I was excited about the inspirational
speakers. I was looking forward to
networking with like-minded women. I was
prepared to feel professionally rejuvenated.
But there was one session I was planning to take “off.”
Amidst all the personal and professional growth
opportunities, I felt a little guilty for going to The Bloggess’s breakout
session. Like I was having cotton candy
in the middle of dinner. But I’m a huge
Bloggess fan, I read her blog almost every night, and there was no way I was
going to miss seeing her live and in person, even if it meant I had to
prioritize her over other great (probably more mainstream) sessions.
I skipped the ultra-long line for the bathroom (props to the
woman who admitted on Twitter that she thought to use the men’s room, which was
OBVIOUSLY empty at the Texas Conference for Women! Duh!) and raced to the room to get a front
row seat for the Bloggess, ready to laugh and be silly with one of my favorite
blog authors.
I did laugh. I
definitely did. But Jenny Lawson, the
Bloggess, also made me think about bravery in a new way. You see, Jenny struggles with depression,
generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety. In fact, before the session, she sat in a
quiet, tucked away corner in the back of the room to get her anxiety under
control, yet she was gracious whenever some rabid fan (it was NOT me, I swear!)
came sneaking up to capture a secret iPhone picture.
Jenny’s bravery shone through as she talked about carrying
her daughter to term after several scary miscarriages. It was obvious when she told us about getting
her first blog deal, then book deal. She
was the very definition of bravery by even getting up and speaking in front of
a standing room only crowd.
But I started thinking about what bravery really means when
she admitted how hard it was the first time she was honest on her blog. When she said the words “I have mental
illness.” When she admitted to not
always being, in her words, “furiously happy.”
How often do we – all of us – pretend that our lives are perfect? Heck, that’s practically the PURPOSE of
social media! “Look at how sweet my
boyfriend is, he got me flowers!” “Look at how adorable my kids are, smiling in
the pumpkin patch!” “I just got a promotion!” “I just cooked this delicious
meal!” It’s not necessarily bad that we
trumpet our success on social media. But
it makes us hesitant to share our failures and admit to our shadows.
Bloggess Jenny Lawson is hysterically funny. But she is unashamedly, unabashedly
real. And that’s the honest truth.
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