I never really understood the concept of finding empowerment in vulnerability until I really started working on healing. For so long I believed being vulnerable would open me up to a world of hurt, and I wasn’t prepared for it. 

However, as I began to embrace my vulnerabilities, I discovered that they allowed me to connect more deeply with others and build genuine relationships. In being open, I found strength, realizing that acknowledging my struggles was not a sign of weakness, but rather a step towards real happiness.

It takes immense courage to share our stories, struggles, and triumphs. In doing so, we create a space for connection and understanding. But to be able to share our stories, we must understand that vulnerability requires us to hold our own space for our experience and our pain. We have to know the weight of which we carry before we can expect anyone else to understand. Then and only then can we ask someone to sit with us and acknowledge what we went through.

Connections are made through sharing

Accepting all our parts is the first step toward building genuine connections with others. When we embrace what happened to us, we create a safe space for dialogue, allowing others to give back in kind and strengthening the bonds between us. That’s how connections are made, and with authencity, it’s how they remain strong. We all have the desire to emotionally engage with others. After all, in order to survive and thrive, we need other people.

Because of our trauma we go through life having had so many walls up — walls that keep us from loving others fully and letting others love us fully. Vulnerability allows us to let in the missing experiences that we didn’t have as a child, which teaches us to be more open and become better versions of ourselves.

The delicate dance between trauma and vulnerability reveals so much about the human experience: while trauma can make us put up walls that shield us from love and acceptance, it is through embracing vulnerability that we can begin to dismantle these barriers. Ultimately, it is in navigating the delicate balance between the pain of trauma and the strength found in vulnerability that we uncover a path toward healing and who we really want to be.

Having cPTSD makes being vulnerable challenging

It is quite a paradox for those of us that live with cPTSD because cPTSD is healed through safe relationships. Safe relationships involve being our authentic selves with another person, and this isn’t possible without true vulnerability. It’s a double-edged sword, because vulnerability doesn’t feel safe, and neither do relationships. A big struggle of cPTSD is feeling safe enough to be our authentic selves, letting down those guards and the hypervigilance. This is why it is always important to establish boundaries. Boundaries can create a sense of safety, allowing for authentic connections to evolve while gradually building trust, which ultimately leads us on our path of healing.

I don’t want my childhood abuse to prevent me from having the ability to be close to people. I want to experience love, compassion, and connection because the wound instilled in me made me believe these things were made impossible. But they aren’t impossible.

Through my healing and the work I am doing every day, I have learned to trust. To have healthy boundaries. Healthy boundaries that don’t just keep things out I don’t want, but allow the things in that I do want. All of which takes practice and couldn’t be achieved without opening up and allowing myself to be vulnerable. And with that comes strength, courage, and personal growth.