We are most powerful when we are most vulnerable. This may seem a paradox in the same way a heart that is the deepest and most whole is one that is broken. It is only in our vulnerability that we recognize we are capable of withstanding more than we thought, where we discover hidden resources of strength.
It is only in our vulnerability that we can find what we truly desire and use it as a compass—our guide in the realm of Eros. When we are completely vulnerable, we do not have to run to or from anything. We are beyond defending, protecting, justifying, judging, or competing.
We realize there is no enemy. Nothing can touch us in a way that is not beautiful and true. And there is only one taste—the taste of freedom, liberation. The drop into the open, broken, receptive, honest, naked vulnerability is only two feet—from up in our heads down into our hearts.
But it can seem completely disorienting, as though it could take lifetimes. It does not require that we cry, as crying can be performative.
We simply stay with the bare thread of it and remain connected no matter what. For each of us, true vulnerability is specific. We always know it when we feel it, and we always recognize it when we see it in someone else.