Being Vulnerable Is Not Always a Weakness....I think?

Jameelah’s Rants, 15 minutes of writing without revision, whatever comes to the mind and heart….hope you enjoy…


This rant is very personal to me because for years I felt being vulnerable is something people avoid as much as possible it is seen as a sign weakness, defect, or lack of confidence for most of their life, it scarred me to open up as a human and expose my raw emotions, desires, and fears to another human being, without the fear of judgment or disdainment. Why one would expose their inner-thoughts, aren’t they just that, inner and not meant to be known to others. Merriam Webster describes being vulnerable as being open to physical and emotional wounds; open to moral attack, criticism, and temptation. So why would people think other wise of the concept of being vulnerable when time after time society has told us to be strong and not to reveal our emotions?

This past year has been an amazing year for me because for years I never addressed my inner feelings and thoughts because I did not want to appear weak to society. I was always seen as the girl who had it all together …but…I noticed there was something very limiting in my relationship with men and women a like. I never emptied my heart; I kept years of stress, disappointments, fears, desires, shame, and love, locked away in my heart. It took me the love, encouragement, and patience of one of my role models Sophia K. for me to realize the beauty of releasing the emotions in my heart and for me to come to understand that sometimes for self growth we have to be willing to be vulnerable. So I have been actively practicing opening up and the results have amazed me! The more I open up about my struggles, fears, and failures, the more others move towards me in support, understanding, and compassion.

I have learned that it's okay to openly express vulnerable emotions. And what enables us to feel safe in such situations is that we're not reactive to others' judgment. Contrary to conventional opinion, it may well take more courage to cry in public (especially if male) than to keep a stiff upper lip and self-protectively hide the sorrow we're experiencing.
By allowing ourselves to vent to highly charged emotions, we're conveying that we regard such emotions as legitimate and reasonable to express, even though we recognize that others might feel obliged to inhibit such expression.

I have found that many times in our relationships by opening up our feelings and emotions we are allowing that person into your life on a deeper level and allowing that person to connect with you emotionally because you are exposing something so personal and having trust in that person. Being open to exploring the emotions of being vulnerable is beautiful as long as one does not allow themselves to become a victim of their own emotions (which can be extremely hard because many times I have gotten caught up in my own sorrows, been depressed, and even been left out there to dry up with a broken heart.) Rather use these emotions/feelings/fears as something positive, as something you want to work on, something you want to grow from, and something you want to learn from.