The Vulnerable

[Mole]

My deepest self is so vulnerable I can't bear to look. But in off moments I catch myself slipping down deep and I feel afraid but at the same time recognise there is something alive down there.

But then I have to go to the bank or meet new people and my defences come up like shutters in a cyclone. I am safe for a while and I can go about my business but after a while business palls and I hear the call of the deep. So I try to inch down step by step, but at each step I become more vulnerable, I am drawn on but I am drawn on by the unknown. And not knowing I must explore step by step, I must see what is on each step before I proceed. It's as though I am walking in the dark, feeling my way. But each step is not a physical step but a feeling, so I step from feeling to feeling, each feeling new, each feeling a surprise, sometimes holding my breath and sometimes breathing deeply as I move deeper and deeper into my feelings.

 

[Mole]

Vulnerability and Creation

Vulnerable comes from the latin meaning 'wound'. And before antibiotics a wound was often lethal, so over thousands of years we learnt to avoid vulnerability.

But today we know that creativity comes from vulnerability, so rather than being a liability, vulnerability is valourised.

But still we maintain our age-old defences against vulnerability and so we limit our ability to create.

Gender roles, psychological defences and literacy have formed a body armour around us to protect us against vulnerability.

But today we need to learn to breathe and enjoy our vulnerability so that we may take advantage of our prosperity to create.