“Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren't always comfortable, but they're never weakness.” … Vulnerability is the birthplace of love, belonging, joy, courage, empathy, and creativity. It is the source of hope, empathy, accountability, and authenticity.” Brene Brown
Our ability to be vulnerable first with ourselves, and then with others is far from being synonymous with weakness or being broken or needy, as is so often believed, It is in truth our most reliable strength in a world where ideology and lies are used as weapons, between friends, family members, and even partners.
We drink in the poison of the Patriarchy every day, and this rejection of our own tender spots is one of the biggest reasons we are no longer able to find shelter in our relationships. It leads to the world being a dangerous place.
Since most of us are the children of non-relational parents, we have for the most part tossed our vulnerable parts on the trash heap of heartaches that we never tended. Instead, many of us were taught that putting on a happy face was the pinnacle of perfection, or told that if we were sad, we’d be given something to cry about.
Our vulnerability is usually exiled, often in childhood, then again in school, in our communities, and in our intimate relationships.
Feeling vs being vulnerable
Sometimes we can feel very vulnerable, and as a result, fail to reveal our truth to others. Due to the ways we were not encouraged or actively discouraged from telling our truth, we can shut down out of a sense of terror when we begin to feel vulnerable. We react instinctively as if to be vulnerable threatens our survival. During such times, people can contact experts from this official site, if they need any assistance to overcome vulnerability.
We cover up once again and don’t allow ourselves to be vulnerable, which is a different story.
To be vulnerable means we actually put ourselves in a position where our truth may not be understood or accepted or may even be criticized. We may feel very vulnerable, yet remain open in spite of those old conditioned feelings of terror.
In those moments, something more powerful is moving through us that taps into our courage. It is a power that comes from the heart, and which does not agree to a consciousness controlled by fear. We allow ourselves to be guided by a coherent signal of love.
Reclaiming exiled parts
So often the price of security, so-called success, or creating a traditional nuclear family is the aliveness we once felt. Parts of self become exiled again, suppressed, repressed, criticized, or simply forgotten in the quest to make it in a world that finds little value in genuine authenticity.
The cost to ourselves, our partners and our families is tremendous, often sending people into unhealthy behaviors and addictions that never quite fill the emptiness.
When we have the courage to reclaim exiled parts, we must face our own vulnerability, because we exiled them for some “good” reason. We may risk rejection, judgment, misunderstanding, and loss as we express these lost parts.
At times, they are heartily welcomed, and even then, it requires courage to reveal our most vulnerable selves.
The blessings we experience when we reclaim the energy of exiled parts adds to the river of joy that is our birthright. We get into the flow, and synch up with the movement of life. This brings a vitality back to us, at any age, and the world begins to matter again.
Vulnerability is a doorway to connection
In truth, when someone is truly vulnerable, it is a natural mammalian response to be empathic and tender. Even animals respond that way, due to mirror neurons that create limbic resonance between them, when they are not in survival mode.
I say take vulnerability back as a form communication that is borne of courage, and the desire for connection!!! Not just women, but all of us! We all have tender hearts, and we all know the ravages of shame. Embracing vulnerability helps to eradicate shame and increase worthiness.
Vulnerability requires open-heartedness, and I often say that an open heart is stronger than 10.000 shields. It is true for so many reasons, because with an open heart, you can much more easily comprehend what is going on with the wisdom of the heart available.
In business right now, vulnerability is being used by many people to market their goods. I recently saw a video where a business coach was telling her story about horrible beatings by her father, while smiling and appearing very very disconnected from her experience. It touched me however, since I saw another kind of vulnerability in her—the vulnerability of someone very much wanting to be authentic, yet still dissociated from her own experience on an emotional level.
We all carry around layers and layers of vulnerability inside. The key is to transform that great human stuff into our strengths. When we tend to those layers inside, we tap into our natural empathy, which is a super-power that can change the world.
Becoming the truth
To be vulnerable, you must become the truth—your truth—very personal, unique to you, and not based on concepts or dogma—-and then reveal that truth so dear to you. There is no bridge between you and the other person already built. You must create it as you go, as walking a tightrope of truth across a divide.
Your willingness to be vulnerable begins to close the gap, no matter how your vulnerability is received. When you have the courage to do this, without condition, a beautiful clarity is revealed. This clarity is the gift of having the courage to walk into the unknown with an open heart.
May the power of vulnerability serve me as I walk in a world of many lies.
May I have the courage to reveal the truth of who I am.
May that revelation benefit others.
