The Power of Identification, Paint Cans and TEDxWomen
Two pieces of news.
They are unrelated, but not.
One: I am speaking at TEDxWomen on December 1. (My hands just shook as I typed that: I. Am. Speaking. At. TEDxWomen. On. December 1). So, you know, kinda a big deal.
Two: I finally got rid of the paint cans on my front porch.
Which one would you like to hear about first…the paint cans you say? Well, if you insist.
We have no garage, so unfortunately for our neighbours, we have become, over time, THOSE PEOPLE who store crap on their front porch. You know, stuff that no longer belongs in the house, but is one step away from the proper disposal. Like all bad habits, it was an innocuous first step that became a slippery slope of incremental crap housing. One bag of mortar mix begat the paint cans which begat the long-forgotten wagon which begat the ladder etc.
Getting rid of said paint cans has been on (though admittedly low-down on) the to-do list for longer than I care to share.
Oh, I’ve known where I need to take them. In fact, I’m pretty sure a two minute Google search would tell me who would come and pick them up for me. Safely. It’s just NOT been a priority.
Then one morning, as I was supposed to be writing my TEDxWomen talk (ahem), I received a group email:
Something that frustrates me to no end is not having easy access to information that teaches and shows us how to easily, safely and responsibly dispose of household hazardous waste items.
Been hoarding a bag of batteries in your ‘bits and bobs drawer’ since high school? Politely ignoring the leftover solvents and paints that are hiding beneath a tarp under your back deck or on your porch from that redecorating project in 2005?
Ummmmmmmmmm. Yes.
I identified with it. Fully and completely. It’s like she was writing with one eye on me. But you can read in these words that this rich context is likely borne of HER own experience, not mine. And it landed. Boom.
So, a short trip to the closest depot one day later, our front porch is (mostly) clear.
Identification leads to action.
So, about that TEDxWomen talk.
I’m tackling a topic that lives dead smack in the middle of my heart: how the Impostor Complex keeps people from their dreams. And to me, this is unacceptable, so I’m taking it down.
At the highest level, I know the talk will be grand: smart stuff, with a whole process, charming stories ‘n everything.
Annnnnnnnnd naturally, MY Impostor Complex is having a field day reminding me how woefully incompetent I am. How there are people far more qualified to speak to the topic than me. How I’m not funny, or smart, or captivating, or…
I’ve been struggling with the words. Procrastinating. Needling the nuances, incanting, sweating, fretting and tearing my hair out. Because it really, really matters to me.
Hell on the ego, but heavenly fertile ground for developing honest and authentic content.
The more clever I notice myself wanting to become, or smarter, or funnier, or deeper or more poetic, the more I feel disconnected from the truth that MUST imbue my words. Which disconnects me from the point. Which will disconnect the audience from me.
Also not acceptable. Not for the work I need to do.
So here’s what the audience at TEDxWomen Isfeld can expect:
I will share what I know of my own experience with the Impostor Complex and the process I use with the hundreds of clients I’ve worked with. I will share in my way, in my language and in my voice and some will identify with my words (and some will not). And some will take action (and some will not).
And you? Are you giving people the chance to experience you? Or are you hiding behind clever, or funnier, or deeper or more poetic, too?
My request: bring the fullest, most truthful expression of you, glorious YOU. Your people will identify and then take action. Promise.
And isn’t that the point?
++++++++
PS – The price of my Clarity Session (which have been likened to divining rods) goes up Jan 1. Now’s a pretty good time to book one. xoxo
Go, you. Sing out your awesome you-ness/insight. Can’t wait to catch it on the video-tape.
So awesome and so relatable….You’re going to rock your talk!
I just found out about the TEDx event and though its a few hours (and a ferry boat ride) away from where I live and I think this is an event not to be missed! You’re gonna be amazing and I so hope to make it happen that I’m sitting in the audience cheering for you!
I would say that you are the perfect person to speak and everyone is going to be very lucky to hear what you have to say in all its brilliance. Can’t wait to hear about it!
Oddly enough, I also just got rid of some junk – stuff that had been lying around the side of the garden and in piles on the driveway (we too, are occasionally those neighbours…). I’d been meaning to phone someone to take it away to the recycling depots, etc, but it just sat there for months.
At the same time, I feel like I’ve been diving deeper into how I want to communicate – in my businesses and about myself in general. I keep realizing that simply being ME, fully and unapologetically me, is the only way to go. I sometimes forget that I don’t need to be an expert on whatever topic, I simply need to speak to it from my own experience – that is where the expertise comes from. THAT is the way I can help people. So simple, so clean.
And this clarity has brought on major fall-cleaning energy – including taking literally 90 seconds to find a garbage/recycling removal company online and booking them to come and pick it up.
It all feels so good!
xoxo Tania
Congratulations on your upcoming TED Talk; I hope we’ll get an email reminder once it available to listen to;) I look forward to hearing it.
it’s incredible how that follows us throughout our lives. no doubt your talk will be a spring board for many. congrats & to your destiny!
cheers from shana
Did I mention that you are my super hero of hte day??? Go get’em lady – you will knock our respective ego grasping socks off….promise
I, for one, am delighted and blessed by you showing up as the fullest, most truthful & glorious expression of YOU. Go ahead and knash your teeth and tear your hair out and wail when you feel the need – just as we all do when something really, really matters to us – because letting all that OUT will clear the way for your truth to shine through, and in the end, I KNOW that you’ll be standing in YOUR starring role on Dec. 1st. Go get ‘em, girl!
Oh you lovely Women. Thank you for the warmth, the cheering and for sharing that this landed. The power of identification, right?
And Tania, yes, it does feel so good.
Love love love,
TG
I will be there to witness and celebrate all of this – and all of you, my friend. You will be (and already are) totally, completely, and beyond-imagination fabulous!
YOU- my dear, are funny, charming, inspiring and beautiful. I wish I can be there cheering you on in the audience, but know, that I will be doing that from here. I cannot wait to hear and watch your Talk.
xoxo
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Your voice adds to the collective wisdom that expands us. Break it down. Rub it in. Pass it around. Wevlovevyou. I’m excited for the bubbles of treasure that will explode from your heart to ours. Sharevthe link sister.
As I write this, you are speaking. This is a prayer, an invocation of support, an infusion of grace – straight to the TEDx platform, through you. I can’t hear you but I know that you are brilliant. Bravo!
You. Generous, beautiful, powerful you. Thank you.