I have almost invariably found that the very feeling which has seemed to me most private, most personal, and hence most incomprehensible by others, has turned out to be an expression for which there is a resonance in many other people.

Intimacy is fantasy translated to tenuous reality, intimacy is deeply unstable, intimacy shifts under our feet, intimacy betrays us and we allow it. We welcome it back hungrily. We are undone, unwound, drawn and quartered by it. We expect it to deliver meaning and it delivers only us: bodies on a bed, hands curled around limbs, the birds and the bees.

walking in the spirit of vulnerability & transparency which creates a space of openness and a framework for building genuine connections

vulnerability begins with becoming aware of how we may have behaved in hurtful or threatening situations, in understanding our own defenses.

“Vulnerability means intentionally putting yourself in a position that allows yourself to be hurt but for the purpose of gaining something better,”

“When I’m using the word ‘vulnerable’ in a therapy session with a patient who has put a wall up in terms of connecting with others because of their experience in life, I’m asking them to allow themselves to be in a state of possibility.”

vulnerability in practice means allowing others to see what you are ashamed of

It continues to be true that when “we’re talking about vulnerability, we’re talking about shame,” Dr. Brown said. What has changed in the past decade is the way “we’re using the words.”