It's all about the reveal

CBS News Sunday Morning was exceptional today and included interviews with Michael Keaton in advance of the release of his new, highly-touted film, "Birdman" and recent signing phenom, Sam Smith. I recommend the Keaton interview online and can't wait to see his new movie, but I'm here to talk about the Sam Smith interview.

It's been my observation that success in writing of all kinds generally stems from emotional honesty, a willingness to reveal oneself without regard for embarrassing oneself or anyone else, and that this is true whether your an essayist, a novelist, a poet, or a songwriter.

I loved what Smith said in Anthony Mason's interview this morning.

Smith: I told all my secrets on that album, my deepest and darkest secrets. I’m a very open person… to me, the things that I’ve always kept hidden were the fact that I was a bit lonely and the fact that maybe I loved someone and they didn’t love me back, and when I decided to tell the entire world that and record my record “In The Lonely Hour” – which I just didn’t think through – I didn’t realize how much I was revealing…

Mason [overdubbed]: It’s not just his voice; it’s his vulnerability that has made Sam Smith a star.

Mason: Part of your success is that you have shown all of yourself.

Smith: Yeah. I know. Hearing whole entire rooms sing back to me, “I guess it’s true, I’m not good at one-night stands.” I can’t explain the feeling. It’s unreal. You feel like you’ve just read your diary to thousands of people and they’ve gone, “It’s okay; we still love you.” 

It reminded me of Lamar White's Ashley Award acceptance speech (@cenlamar on Twitter) at Rising Tide 7 in New Orleans  (9/22/2012 - White starts at 5:00, this is at ~7:15):

These are the principals that guide my blogging and my advocacy:

Write fearlessly...[she taught me that] writing could be empowering, but in order to be empowered you must allow yourself to become vulnerable. Sometimes that means sharing things that could be painful or embarrassing, but they're important... The only way you can really reach an audience is if you expose yourself to some vulnerability, and in doing so you become empowered. Vulnerability can be empowering. 

It sounds so easy, but it's something I've never been able to do. I start and it always gets a little traction; so I pull back. It's fear, but not a completely terrible type of fearfulness. I suppose the secret is to let go of worrying you might rock the boat and embrace it.