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Written by Jason Montoya. Posted in Community.

Into the Wilderness: Social Exile When Speaking Truth to Power

In this Spontaneous Conversation on the Share Life podcast, with Addison Blu Williams, and Ross Boone, we explore the challenge of standing against your group, navigating the wilderness alone, and the cost of personal conviction. What happens when you challenge the beliefs of your tribe? Is exile the cost of speaking up against consensus?

We explore the tension between community and individual conviction, the emotional toll of breaking away, and the search for truth beyond social expectations. If you've ever felt caught between loyalty and being sincere, this discussion is for you.

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Conversation Inspiration

Our conversation is inspired by the words of Brene Brown on Marie Forleo TV 📺, the following quote in particular.

"True Belonging is about the ability to find sacredness in both being a part of something but also the courage to stand alone... for those of us who struggle to have the courage to stand alone, especially when we know that it risks – we’re risking that sense of being a part of something because we disagree... that is the mark of true belonging... I am a part of something bigger, but I will also stand alone when I need to.

There will be times when standing alone feels too hard, too scary, and we’ll doubt our ability to make our way through the uncertainty. Someone somewhere will say ‘don't do it. You don't have what it takes to survive the wilderness.’ This is when you reach deep into your wild heart and remind yourself, I am the wilderness." - Brene Brown

Watch The full conversation between Marie Forleo and Brene Brown here.

In addition to the words of Brene Brown, we also discuss the following two related ideas.

In my journey this past year, I resonated with the idea that being sincere risks alienating my community, and how stepping forward anyway is walking into the wilderness. Last year, I went to a Jordan Peterson event here in Atlanta and one of my takeaways was that when we reject our wilderness experience, we embrace the tyranny of Pharoah's Egypt. We become part of the tyranny. And that also reminded me of the following quote.

"Until the Church consistently leads people to the wilderness (i.e. prayer, solitude, silence, reflection, repentance, etc.) to confront our own demons, we will project our demons back out into the world, and fail to see that some demons in the world are reflections of ourselves." - Rich Villodas

In this Spontaneous Conversation, we discuss all three of these elements in a concise discussion.

Listen to This Conversation on the Share Life Podcast

Click here to listen in on Spotify directly, or click play below to immediately begin streaming.

You can also find this discussion on Pocket Casts, Itunes, Spotify, and wherever you listen to podcasts under the name, Share Life: Systems and Stories to Live Better & Work Smarter or Jason Scott Montoya.