Author and speaker Sonia Choquette give a fabulous demonstration of giving yourself permission to be yourself and do essentially anything on stage. The 700 or so people present respond wholeheartedly. In fact, the more Sonia is herself, the more the audience responds. It’s not that she’s does anything outlandish – just using her voice to the full and dancing around a bit – well a lot maybe.
Leaving afterwards, someone is overheard to say “I wish I had Sonia’s lack of inhibition.”
Think about it for a minute…
That’s kind of backwards. She already has her lack of inhibition, on the inside anyway. It’s a question of choosing to let it out. I suppose we get what she means though… it takes courage to be so exposed in front of so many people, or even perhaps just a few.
But here’s the thing…
The more Sonia is herself, the safer she is. The more she gives herself permission, the more we support her. And it’s the same with anyone else on that stage.
And it’s the same with people one-on-one…
The more we give ourselves permission to be ourselves, the safer we are.