I had to open my new eyeshadow with a hammer the other day.
This has happened to me many times of late: where things that should be human or should be manageable by a human have clearly been forged by robots.
And for me, there’s a sadness that comes with that because it makes me feel disconnected from my world. It’s also just really annoying to need a hammer to open an eyeshadow.
Many people think public speaking is about everything being locked down. Airtight. Perfectly impenetrable.
And while it may look good from the outside, when you interact with it, you can’t get in.
I was in Croatia last summer for a wedding. I went to this beautiful little antique shop by the water in Cavtat, and found a little leather cigarillo case lined with short cream-colored fur. It had a name embossed on the side in gold lettering, although it’s now mostly illegible. The shop owner said it had been made in France in the 1930s.
Despite so many other shiny objects in that shop competing for my attention, I fell in love with this finger-sized case.
It’s easy to open. And when you close it, it gives you this satisfying little click.
It’s all of the security you need and none that you don’t.
There’s a lot of soul in the leather, from years of use. The name is a little worn off. It holds the contents with integrity, but it opens when you need it to open.
You want your talk to feel like this case: structured enough to hold, open enough to breathe. No hammers required.
Have you ever felt like your own talk was a little too locked down? What were you so afraid would happen if you let it breathe?
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