EILEEN ADLER

Russian nesting dolls – Non-verbal communication – “don’t fake it ‘til you make it, fake it ‘til you become it!
Continuing with the interview with Glennon Doyle, she compared her life to Russian nesting dolls. Glennon provides her perspective: “And as we get older, we keep putting on all of these costumes . . . growing up, that’s what I thought I had to do to mature, to age, to get wisdom, is to put on all these different costumes and see which one fit . . . but I realize that the more you can actually take those costumes off and get down to that little, small, immobile Russian nesting doll, that is who you are, your true, true self. That is the humanity of all of us.”  
 

We might think of this costume as a “game face,” that facial expression denoting an outer attitude, persona, resolve that is not reflective of how we are truly feeling. It’s akin to a mask, more fully covered, a costume. But along comes Amy Cuddy whose TED talk begins with, “fake it ‘til you make it” and concludes with “fake it ‘til you become it.” Non-verbal communication is a powerful tool and sometimes, putting on a game face makes us (think we) feel better.   Amy Cuddy - Fake it Till You Make it - July 7, 2016
 

Amanda Gorman at the 2021 Inauguration, recited her poem “The Hill We Climb”

The last lines of her poem:

When day comes, we step out of the shade of flame and unafraid.

The new dawn balloons as we free it.

For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it.

If only we’re brave enough to be it.
 

If only we are brave enough to be it – powerful words
and I’m here to tell you that you are enough!

Life Lesson: The human capacity for burden is like bamboo - far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance. -Jodi Picoult