Listen to this conversation about Vulnerability and Power between two wildly different people who somehow manage a shared connection in their intelligence, spirituality, and ability to give language to complex ideas. Brené Brown and Russell Brand talk candidly in his Under the Skin podcast about her research and the wisdom it teaches. Here are a couple of my take aways.

1. The essence of life is creative flow.
2. The world needs to reimagine and rebuild our human systems to function with more human qualities. Brené is doing this with her corporate work, and maybe the next steps will be with our political and organization leadership.
3. Believing people are doing their best helps us have clearer boundaries. If they are doing their best, you won’t judge them. Non judgmental acceptance empowers you to move outside their influence if their best isn’t good for you. You can let go of anger and attempts to control in order to grieve what you lost with this person.
4. Faking compassion erodes boundaries (the ability to identify if you are outside your integrity and generosity). Real compassion thrives because of good boundaries, not in spite of them.
5. Children learn boundaries from how you hold them. If you don’t want to model giving in when it gets too hard, watch yourself, learn more tools and encourage yourself to grow.

It’s fascinating to explore how the same themes that are applicable to global politics find their relevance in the intimacy of the parent/child relationship. Below is a clip of Brené on 60 Minutes.