The Challenges of Vulnerability II
"Vulnerability is the core of all emotions and feelings. To feel is to be vulnerable. To believe vulnerability is weakness is to believe that feeling is weakness. To foreclose on our emotional life out of a fear that the costs will be too high is to walk away from the very thing that gives purpose and meaning to living." - Brené Brown
In the past week I challenged myself to be more vulnerable than usual. And boy was it hard!! But I learned a really vital lesson throughout all of it. And the lesson is this: vulnerability is the key to intimacy and understanding. It is impossible to build true and lasting relationships without some level of vulnerability.
Another thing that came across really clearly was that we sometimes make out vulnerability to be this huge and massive thing. When sometimes being vulnerable is saying "I'm not okay" to the question "how are you doing today?" Being honest about where you are emotionally does not have to equate to a therapy session that lasts an hour. Vulnerability exists in the small truths as well.
I was talking to a friend a couple of days ago and he said something that really blew my mind. He said "Vulnerability frees us from our 'things'" Not opening up can make our "things" have power over us. Our past, our scars, our mistakes become best kept secrets and those secrets hold us captive. They hold us captive because in a world where it's only human to want acceptance, exposing the things we used to do and the people we used to be can threaten the bonds that we've made based on who we are now.
I'm going to end off with another quote from Brené Brown that says "Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage." So I leave you with this question: when was the last time you were courageous?
In the past week I challenged myself to be more vulnerable than usual. And boy was it hard!! But I learned a really vital lesson throughout all of it. And the lesson is this: vulnerability is the key to intimacy and understanding. It is impossible to build true and lasting relationships without some level of vulnerability.
Another thing that came across really clearly was that we sometimes make out vulnerability to be this huge and massive thing. When sometimes being vulnerable is saying "I'm not okay" to the question "how are you doing today?" Being honest about where you are emotionally does not have to equate to a therapy session that lasts an hour. Vulnerability exists in the small truths as well.
I was talking to a friend a couple of days ago and he said something that really blew my mind. He said "Vulnerability frees us from our 'things'" Not opening up can make our "things" have power over us. Our past, our scars, our mistakes become best kept secrets and those secrets hold us captive. They hold us captive because in a world where it's only human to want acceptance, exposing the things we used to do and the people we used to be can threaten the bonds that we've made based on who we are now.
I'm going to end off with another quote from Brené Brown that says "Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage." So I leave you with this question: when was the last time you were courageous?