I heard Dan Harris say recently, “No cheesiness, no liberation.” It landed right away, and I’ve already repeated it to myself a few times.
If the yoga or meditation teacher instructs you to put your hand over heart or shake your limbs, it can feel silly. If your partner asks you to look into their eyes, it can feel too intimate. If you put affirmations on your bathroom mirror, it can feel exposing when your new cool friends go in there and see them.
And at work, it can be almost prohibitive to embrace cheesiness. You don’t dare start with a minute of silence or suggest that people text encouragements to one another. There are many things you may consider “off-limits” for workplace discussions, and you jump straight into action items before asking how people are doing. I’m always shocked when I go into facilitate a new group and find out they don’t even begin their staff meetings with a short (appropriate and inclusive!) check-in. I love to model for them how easy and quick it is and how connected people feel afterward.
We are more than our analytical brains. We are more than the problems that need to be solved. We have hearts that need connection, and we have bodies that need movement and acknowledgement. It’s hard to really integrate our hearts and bodies without getting a little cheesy. And the worst thing that can happen is someone saying, “That’s cheesy.” Bring it on.