hey coffee... What the best version of yourself?

hey coffee... What the best version of yourself?

Post two in a series on exploring coffee and the Asian-American identity. Read the first one here.

the best version
  • to me?
  • to you? 
  • to the masses?
  • I can be?
  • going to be?
  • a heightened version of myself?
  • a best filtered persona or character?
  • after a power-up?

No. I don't think this is quite the right question.

I think the most vulnerable.

I think I'm me at my purest form in that way.

I used to be so nervous if I would mess up a post or write something horrendous or do this or do that. That mistake would exposure the business that would eventually lead to its destruction and demise.

But then you got to realize, do you know how mistakes I have under my belt? Like right now, I can think up a million different moments. I cringe at the early FB posts I would make.. 

Like oh man….I took my own HS senior photo.. geez that style did not age well with the times. So you know how many times I had to mess a post up to be able to do this post? 

It was because I felt I was at a time where I needed to like prove myself. So everything had to be perfect, SO ARTSY.

it's like, oh, if I say the wrong thing or have a weird design element… but it ain’t that deep. I started to realize like, it isn’t any of that. It’s not about me. 

You know why? Because we have a community of people who, if I make a mistake, if anything, it makes them feel a further connection to me, because we all make mistakes. We are all human. 

Almost all of us were raised to believe that it's really important to be courageous with our lives, and simultaneously, most of us were taught that being exposed is weakness. 

So on one hand, we're supposed to be brave. And on the other hand, we're never supposed to be vulnerable. 

BUT vulnerability is the emotion that we experience when we feel at risk, emotionally exposed or uncertain. Its uncertainty, risk and emotional exposure that creates the opportunity to be courageous. So how can you be brave if you don’t ever encounter a situation to be brave?

Thats the really hard part. At some point, we've got to reconcile that we will never truly be courageous if we're never willing to be vulnerable. 

So really, it’s how do we create more moments to expose ourselves this emotion of vulnerability, and then we reflect on courageous moments in our lives. That's when we truly understand that vulnerability is the path to courage there. 

So when I look for the “best” anything. Me, or even coffee. I look for the most courageous version. I’m excited by mistakes, because then I can truly connect.

Jonathan

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