Holding nothing back

I watched Private Parts, the Howard Stern movie from 1997. It’s awesome. I really like it.

The thing that’s stayed with me, though, is how he’s just letting it all out, sharing his innermost, his lack of getting laid, his wife’s pregnancy and miscarriage, his crazy stories, whether true or not, his wacky ideas, his insatiable interest in sex.

A lot of people find that offensive. That’s perfectly okay. Because a lot of people find it attractive and interesting and authentic, too.

That’s the genius.

To me, this resonates with this quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson:

To believe your own thought, to believe that what is true for you in your private heart is true for all men, that is genius. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

I know that in my own life, whatever I believe in my own private heart, I’m quick to dismiss as not relevant to other people. It’s probably just because I’m different or weird or overly sensitive or broken in some way. It doesn’t apply to others.

Not necessarily a great strategy.

What would happen if we just let go of that inhibition, opened up, and just threw it out there without inhibition?

Scary thought.