Using community-building to create system change. Credit: Finance Innovation Lab Facebook.
For years I struggled with having a public side to my work. I’d become anxious at the thought of public speaking. I’d hold back from sharing my opinions, especially in the expert world of NGOs. Public visibility triggered a sense of shame about myself.
I’m not alone in feeling that there was something wrong with me. Our neoliberal society pits us against each other, we must compete with one another to be the “best” in all spheres of life: at work, in our looks, in how popular we are. The list is endless. We learn that we are not enough; that we must constantly improve to “get ahead”. As Buddist psychotherapist Tara Brach says:
