The Naked Fear

I had that naked dream last night. You know the one. It’s the dream where you’re at a business meeting or giving a speech or going to meet your sweetheart’s parents and suddenly, out of nowhere you realize that you’re completely and utterly nude.

Naked. Exposed. Vulnerable. (And, depending on your climate and the time of year, maybe a little bit cold.)

Now, everyone I know has had this dream or at least a variation of it. (Personally, I’ve had it a bunch of times. For me it’s right up there with the “It’s finals week in college and I suddenly realize that I forgot to go to my advanced theoretical mathematics class all semester and–oh, dear god–it’s taught by Mr. Tite who taught math at my highschool, lived with his mother and had an amazing hairpiece and–sweet jebus–I’m so ashamed at myself and there’s no way I’m getting out of this without failing. Gah!” dream. What, you haven’t had that one?)

But I’ve always found the terror and shame the naked dream brings up to be pretty fascinating. What is it about being honestly and truly who you are that sends us all into red-faced fits? And why does the concept of naked, brutal honesty make most business owners look like they want to hold their breath until they turn dead?

This month’s issue of Wired is all about exposure. The cover features that cute (But not too cute. This girl’s cuteness exists in the realm of relative reality, as opposed to most Hollywood women types who are sort of scary and look like they could be used as flotation devices) girl from The Office smiling coyly. She’s got her hip kicked out to the side and is wearing a sharp suit. Except the suit is just a cover, literally. Turn the page and you see that our cute girl from the office is, *gasp* exposed in a completely PG way.

Anyway, the article is a good read. The basic gist? Be honest to your customers, expose your flaws, start a conversation and you’ll have folks lining up for your services like zombies at a brain buffet.

Give it a read.

Comments

About Author