If we are going to find our way out of shame and back to each other, vulnerability is the path and courage is the light. To set down those lists of *what we're supposed to be* is brave. To love ourselves and support each other in the process of becoming real is perhaps the greatest single act of daring greatly.

Vulnerability pushed, I pushed back. I lost the fight, but probably won my life back.

We're all so busy chasing the extraordinary that we forget to stop and be grateful for the ordinary.

Loving and accepting ourselves are the ultimate acts of courage.

On the flip side, I've also had to struggle with saying "yes." Before I did this research and before I had my own breakdown and spiritual awakening around this work, my motto was, "Don't do anything that you're already not great at doing." Which I think is the way the majority of adults in our culture live. Authenticity is also about the courage and the vulnerability to say, "Yeah, I'll try it. I feel pretty uncomfortable and I feel a little vulnerable, but I'll try it!"

Social media has given us this idea that we should all have a posse of friends when in reality, if we have one or two really good friends, we are lucky.

The truth is, rarely can a response make something better - what makes something better is connection.