Vulnerability is like shedding your skin. Like when our bearded dragon sheds a layer of his little salmonella carrying self.
Sometimes when I write and share, I feel like my layers are being peeled off. Layers that need to come off. They are excess. For them to remain doesn’t benefit me or anyone else.
And it isn’t always easy.
It’s scary and feels risky.
I’m working on a project right now and have been going through past blogs to determine which ones received the most engagement and response.
Not surprisingly, they were the ones that were the hardest to write. Leaving me feeling uncovered and like I wanted to just hit delete rather than publish.
Here’s what pushing past the fear has taught me about vulnerability:
It makes other people feel like you are a safe space to be who they are. Without masks or pretense. I have had people open up to me in ways that are raw, sacred and beautiful.
It also makes you more comfortable in your own skin.
Once you make peace with your sometimes frail and flawed humanity, you find that it’s okay to not always be strong. That it really doesn’t matter what other people think. That it’s okay to wrestle with stuff. To not have it all together or figured out.
I’m not going to say we’re all a hot mess.
We’re all a beautiful mess. In process. Still being remade. Still being unveiled.
Someone, somewhere needs your story.