You’ve seen them all over the place. Un-boxing videos are crazy popular. From toys to food, we’re sharing what we get with the world. What really shocked me though is how popular these types of videos are. My kids got sucked into them with the toy videos and passed the craziness on to me. There are some Black girl luxury un-boxing videos that just make me want to shop. I should probably steer clear of those.
Then I started thinking about the whole idea of un-boxing. And other ways to look at it. I thought about how much we’ve all gotten into sharing our lives with others. Whether it be through a blog or social media in general, we share so much. I thought about the kind of sharing I’d like to see more of. This got me to thinking about what we share with the world in another sense. What we share about ourselves with others.
Rarely do people push past comfort zones to really put themselves out there. Those comfort zones are really just boxes. We tuck ourselves safely inside and do the things that keep us comfortable. We get to keep those boundaries that we fight for. The flip side is that we don’t move beyond them. When we move beyond our comfort zones we get comfortable with a new, larger space that wouldn’t have been possible before. So when I think of un-boxing, whether it’s our gifts or or hidden talents – how do we share more of that?
Recently, I read a book that kind of seemed liked it’s own un-boxing. The book is called “Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come.” It’s as funny as the title sounds. The premise is an woman who’s an introvert living in London. Her friends have moved away or they’ve grown apart. She’s lonely and looking for a way to connect with new people. This is not an easy feat for an introvert. Especially since she describes folks in London as a bit closed off and not really open to chitchat. She, in essence, un boxes herself. She puts herself out there to talk to strangers and try improv and even stand up comedy. None of these things come easy to an introvert (speaking from experience).
Her un-boxing opens her up to new friends and experiences but it also gives her a chance to share skills she didn’t know she had. She was sure she’d hate improv. She loved it. She was convinced she couldn’t hack a dinner party. Hosted one without incident.
Reading this book got me to thinking of how I can put myself out there more. I tend to be a more laid back, hang in the background kind of girl. But what would I be opening myself up to if I un-boxed more of myself to the world. If I took the step of letting people in on my gifts and unknown talents – what would that change? I’m thinking this through.
Are there some things you still want to reveal about yourself? What talent or gift are you sitting on? It might be time for a glorious un-boxing!
