Public Humiliation, Shame, and Forgiveness
I realize this post could be polarizing. It could upset people.
What upsets me is the fact that because of your age, many of you may not even know who Monica Lewinsky is!
“Public shaming as a blood sport has to stop.”
“Show of hands – who has regrets from their days as a twenty-two-year-old?”
“At the age of twenty-two I fell in love with my boss…”
These are just a few quotes from Monica Lewinsky’s recent TED talk.
I had read the Vanity Fair article, but I was curious;
what did she have to say for herself now as a woman in her forties?
I found her talk articulate, fascinating, and thought-provoking.
Like many at the time, I’m ashamed to say I had judged her as a doe-eyed, beret-wearing bimbo, who during a lapse of better judgment, trusted a “friend”, and neglected to get that freakin’ blue dress to the cleaners…then lived to regret it.
I drank the kool-aid of popular opinion.
As I watched her speak I have to say, I was awash in contradictory emotions. I found myself feeling sorry for her, yet what surprised me were my overriding feelings of empathy and pride. I was damn proud of her. Yes, that’s right, I said it.
She’s had the audacity to pick her head up and speak out.
How long do we punish ourselves for our mistakes and missteps?
Ten years? Twenty? A lifetime?
Are we allowed to re-write our narratives? Start over and reinvent ourselves using all our gained wisdom and insight?
Watch the video and then…
You tell me.
Carry on,
Xox
