We are trained to appear strong and successful. To be shiny and glamorous, to be Instagram-able and untouchable. As a consequence we literally become untouchable. We disconnect from feeling, from being open to the world, from others.
There is no connection with anything when we are protecting ourselves from being seen: you cannot connect a plug when there is a lid on it. You cannot plant a tree on a piece of concrete, you can’t even touch somebody’s skin when it is protected by a layer of clothes.
There has to be an opening. There has to be accessibility. There has to be space. And vulnerability is the gate.
I have always been very empathic with others but it felt very vulnerable to start looking at myself with honesty and compassion. To see that small (not tall) woman, that strong leader, that fearful being, the lonely me, the one that was feeling not enough and that needed to constantly be in the limelight for exactly that reason (and that I hated so much for it). To put light on all these ‘undesirable’ parts that I tried to cover up for most of my life. Because they felt not viable, I did not want anybody else to see them either.
Fact is when you are fully open to be with whatever is, when you become able to stand in the midst of your own storm, you get connected to the deepest parts in yourself, to your truth, to your soul. You become a bridge to your heart.
Being able to be with pain, being able to be with shame, being able to be with sadness, deeply connects you with yourself. It is not the glory that is most satisfying, it is being able to be with you and everything that flows through you. And in connecting to others from a place of being 100% you.
“Sometimes you have to drop your guard so that your heart can breathe.” – Emma Xo