Gina Rinehart, Ben Roberts-Smith and Bruce Lehrmann

Last week you may have seen the headlines that Gina Rinehart wanted an unflattering portrait of her taken down. It didn’t end well for her.

Very few people would have known of the exhibition and fewer would have seen it. But in an attempt to get it taken down, Rinehart achieved the exact opposite of what she wanted - worldwide exposure of the portrait.

It was the same for Ben Roberts-Smith. He didn’t want people to think that he was a war criminal, so he sued, only to be found as one. The same for Bruce Lehrmann; he didn’t want the world thinking he was an alleged rapist, so he sued for defamation, only to be found guilty of rape - albeit at the lesser civil standard.

It’s called the Streisand effect - railing against what you don’t want, only to bring more attention to it.

The funny thing is, they don’t actually care about the image, or their reputation. What they care about is how they feel about the image or their reputation. This is inside them. This is a subtle but very important distinction.

Railing against something outside our self will never change what is happening inside us. It can't - they are two different places.

Is there anything that you are railing against in the outside world to solve what is inside you?

It might be easier to turn your attention inwards and work there. After all, know thyself, and stuff.

As always, would love your thoughts on this.