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A few weeks ago, I saved a video that I knew I wanted to watch when I had the time. I didn’t want to forget about it, so I put the name of the video and the speaker on my To Do list on my phone as a reminder for when I had a 20-minute break in my day to devote to it.
The video is a TED Talk called, “Why I’m done trying to be ‘man enough’.” The speaker, actor Justin Baldoni, is someone I am not familiar with but I became an instant fan as soon as he started telling his story.
Maybe it’s because of the current climate of our country, and the ongoing revelations of sexual harassment claims. Maybe it’s because I am raising a 10-year-old boy and 14-year-old girl, and I want to make sure I am not screwing them up completely. Or maybe it’s just because the title of the TED Talk stopped me in my tracks. Whatever the case, I knew this video was important for me to watch.
And now I want to share it with the world.
In fact, I think it’s one of the most important conversations we need to be having right now. Not as men or women—but as humans.
In some ways, it reminds me of Brene Brown’s TED Talk on Vulnerability that went viral in 2010. Partly because Baldoni is just as compelling a speaker as Brown is, and partly because his message is one of such great importance. And one that not a lot of people are talking about. Yet.
But I hope we are all about to start.
Please take twenty minutes of your time and watch this. And watch it now—don’t wait two weeks like I did. You won’t be sorry.
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Since watching this video, I have learned that Baldoni is continuing this conscious conversation in a meaningful way. Just within the past few days, he launched a new online series called “Man Enough”. Promoted as a “dinner conversation series” that explores and challenges traditional masculinity in America, Baldoni brings a variety of guests to the table to talk mindfully about what it even means to be ‘man enough’.
I am so grateful that I found this video, and that Baldoni is making himself vulnerable in order to talk about things that matter.
I, for one, hope we all can follow his lead.
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Photo Credit: Getty Images