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If you head over to Seth’s blog, there’s a video over there that I (super briefly) appear in.
Regardless, you should go and check it out and see how the altMBA is changing people’s lives.
Also, we need more diversity in this! I mean, the guy who opens this is one of the most amazing humans ever, and the coaching staff is like >50% women, but where my other levelling-up POCs at?
Okay, so here’s my totally authentic post about being inauthentic.
Until Saturday, I’m running a 30% off sale (use code VDAY) on my two pins, The Monster and Lilith over at my shop www.evilpin.club/shop. I figure, if you want a cute couple pin set, then snag this one. TBH, I’ve even given this pin set to a couple before.
That said, my true self has to at least post about why these two should NOT be an icon of love. If we look back to the original Bride of Frankenstein movie, it really sort of devalues the bride into a plot device (not untypical of films in 1935..or even today, sadly).
So I get that the Monster was never named, and so it makes sense that the Bride wasn’t given a proper name (the role is of “The Bride of the Monster”), but at least the Monster is his own thing, while the Bride is only in context of her intended relationship to the Monster.
Also, the Bride never shows any interest in the Monster. She literally screams in terror and repulsion, causing the Monster to kill Praetorius (one of the creators), himself, AND HER. WTF. This is classic murder suicide (which is domestic violence at its worst), and super not cool. Just because she’s a reanimated corpse who doesn’t like you does not mean you should be able to kill her.
Anyway, I decided to give the Bride a name, so I named her Lilith, after Adam’s first wife, who left his sorry ass after she wouldn’t stay submissive to him.
So all that said, if you still want to buy these pins in a weird, “I-think-I’m-romantic-but-actually-reinforcing-unhealthy-relationship” sort of way, then please, take your discount, and purchase away.
Pro-tip: you can buy the pins individually, and the discount still works.
I’ve been having a lot of conversations about psychological armor – the stuff we hide ourselves behind.
Armor could be things like “I work at Company X” when the subtext is that Company X is a huge company that you’ve heard of, and that gives me status.
Armor could be letting people know you drive a Tesla, when the subtext is that you have the money to spend on a nice car AND you’re the forward thinking type of person who saves the environment.
Armor could be a university degree, an award, the number of followers on your Instagram page. It could be a number on a scale, or the number of matches on Tinder.
We use armor to protect ourselves. To make ourselves seem cool. To make ourselves feel like we belong somewhere. To make ourselves feel worthy. To hide.
I get it. The world is a scary place. I’ve been bullied before, and because I felt like shit, I bullied others. I’ve been a jerk, made snide comments, posed with a sense of elitism or entitlement. I’d wager every single one of us has.
Which makes it seem like taking off all of the armor that much more terrifying.
But if we want to make a more inclusive world that treats people with empathy, if we want to build communities, empower others, and push the world towards a kinder, less scary place, we need to learn how to take off the armor.
Because if we stand there, naked and vulnerable, with no armor – that’s true power. To truly be you, in the face of (potential) criticism, you’re actually stronger than ever.