Unmasking

Hi, Cadre Sphere. Hello. Hello. Christy Larson here. I love my Wednesdays with you. I'm excited to be here. I'm excited to share a little bit of my creating safe spaces and vulnerability journey with you all. I am really excited to see you all. I just put my slippers on because it's a little chilly here. I put my husband's big poofy sweatshirt on. It's actually quite nice outside, but sometimes when it's, when it's. They say it's gonna be warmer outside, it feels colder inside. So I'm all bundled up and in comfy, cozy.

Good to see you all or hear you all or what chat you all, whatever it is that we do here in our live streams. I was thinking about my talk today is, is about creating safe spaces and allowing others and yourself to be vulnerable in front of others. And I was thinking I have, for those of you that know me or don't know me, I have a bunch of. I'm a plant person. So I have over 300 plants, both in my home here in Minnesota, but also at our lake home in Wisconsin. And every now and then they go on a little bit of a growing spurt.

And you can tell spring is coming because everything's starting to kind of perk up. And when the sun is out, they. They show off their true selves. And I have a Florida ghost philodendron that currently is sprouting a brand new leaf. And for those of you that don't or aren't plant people or don't know what a Florida ghost is, they actually, when they sprout a new leaf, they are bright white. They're ghost white, they call them. And then as they mature, they green. And so when a new leaf comes out, it's so much fun because it's just this bright, beautiful white leaf.

Leaf that is fresh out of its little cocoon and coming to us. And so when I was thinking about that, I was like, you know, it's amazing how plants don't care, right? They come out just as they are. They sprout a new leaf just as they are. And some of them are beautiful and some of them are ugly and some of them stink and some of them smell beautiful. And so it got me thinking about this kind of talk today just in terms of when we are in. Are able to be our true authentic selves in front of people and what that can create for not just yourself, but for others.

And I unfortunately did not find that until I was probably in my mid-20s when I discovered that it was easier and not so bad to show up as myself every day. And that wasn't in every situation. Right. There were still those situations where I felt like I needed to act a certain way or talk a certain way or be a certain way. But there was defining moments that I can clearly remember where I felt completely safe to be myself. And in my previous role, I was blessed to work with people that were open and honest and vulnerable and shared stories and laughters and cries and you name it.

And that's where I started to feel safe to be myself. And it's because others were doing it in front of me. Yeah. Have you ever experienced that? Where others are doing it in front of you and then you feel more comfortable and you feel like you can open up and you feel like you can let that emotion out or you can say that thing that you have been thinking. And it's not going to be a judgment moment. Right. It's not gonna be that. Oh, you said that. So we don't want you around here anymore. Right.

It is that. I wanna listen to you, I wanna understand where you're coming from, and I wanna share this moment with you. And when you feel safe enough to do that in front of others, it creates a space where others feel safe enough to do it back. And that's a really important, important thing for people feeling valued, people feeling heard. There was a. There was a. A moment that I can clearly remember, and I think maybe I've shared this with you all before, but there was a moment I can clearly remember, and it was during the pandemic.

So we were all on zoom, and we were having a leadership team meeting, and we were all getting together, and one of the members said, I'm going to be a little bit late because my kids got licensed at school. And we were like, oh, my gosh. You know, take your time. Like, that's. Lice is a horrible, horrible thing to experience, if you've ever experienced it. But. And when they arrived, they had. I think it's called rit, whatever that stuff is that you put on your. Your head to kill the lice. And then a shower cap, right?

And they showed up and they had this shower cap, and then their hair was all covered with this gel or whatever it is that you put in your hair. And I can remember that moment in feeling like this is exactly where I need to be and exactly what I need in my life to experience how to be myself. Because this other person came, showed up just as they were. They didn't try to Change anything. They didn't say, I'm not coming. They came, they showed up, and they did the job that they were asked to do, just as they were.

And I'm not kidding you all, it just like it is something I will never forget because it. It made me feel comfortable to do the same. And so I really want you all to think about that as you're kind of navigating spaces where you might not feel comfortable to be yourself. So sometimes if you are just for a brief moment, it can create that for other people too. And then that authentic, you know, the word authenticity comes through and it creates just a little bit safer of a space for. For those of you that you're interacting with.

Not only that, but it makes you feel better because you're showing up just as you are. And I was thinking about too, while I was in between jobs and I was interviewing and how we show up when we interview, right, Sometimes we just aren't quite ourselves if we are going in for a job interview. And that was something I learned down the road as I was doing more and more interviews is I got more and more comfortable showing up just as myself, because I think I started to understand and recognize that if I showed up as myself, that other person was also showing up as their selves.

And that conversation meant more. It was more authentic. It was something that we could conversate, right? It was more conversational, sometimes more personal. And so I encourage you to try to do that. I encourage you to think about that as you're navigating new situations or you're interacting with people. And if you're not feeling comfortable to do that, that's okay, right? Practice it. It definitely does not come easy. I have a weird mouth thing, as some of you have probably seen. That's been something that I have struggled with, right when I show up.

But as you get older, it gets a little bit easier to just be your true self. And so I encourage you to do that as much as you can. I encourage you to encourage others to do that as much as you can. And show up. Show up just as you are. I know. Speak Wonder did a glorious live stream last week that I was lucky enough to watch back. And they were traveling. She was traveling for. For a funeral. But she really hit the mark on showing up and being there. And sometimes that's not easy, and sometimes that is.

And so the more you can do that in an authentic way, the better you're going to be as a human yourself. But the. The value is also going to fall on the other people, they're going to feel that, and it allows them to also do what you are doing in being your true self. So that's what I had to say. Today. I will take a picture of my Florida ghost. I am so excited about it. It's just coming out just a little teeny bit, so it might take a few more days, but that's blooming. My Monstera has new blooms on it, and spring is.

Is just around the corner and we're gonna start to see more of that blooming and green and glorious sunshine that we or I love so very much. So thanks for coming, y'. All. I really appreciate it. I love being here with you. I love sharing my stories. I would love to hear your stories. I would love to cheer you on and make sure that you have somebody in your corner at all times. And you know that Cadre Sphere is definitely here for that. So thanks, you all. I appreciate it. Take care, be well and.

And be yourself. Have a great rest of your Wednesday. We'll see you all next week on Wednesday, and I look forward to it.