A Blessing For Vulnerability

Paul Dunion

The ancients say that feeling vulnerable is knowing

that you can be wounded. With that in mind, why should

you value feeling vulnerable? Could it be that the ability

to be wounded might mean able to be penetrated,

penetrated by what life brings. And so, you are asked

to live the question: “Am I penetrated by too much

or too little”?

Your life force depends upon that question and your

honest responses. You will know diminished penetration

as your heart hardens, your mind clutches to contrived

certainties, and you cannot find the one who knows

you and cherishes your company. The image you see

in the mirror is now a stranger, looking back upon you

with forlorn eyes.

You will come to know too much penetration when your

words sound like they belong to someone else. And when

you insist upon infusing your giving with magic,

although your offerings are dismissed and forgotten.

Much too much penetration leaves you cursing the gods,

with a heart encased in cynicism.

Remain an apprentice of vulnerability by honoring the

gifts of being touched and moved. You will need a

resiliency informing you that being touched is an

announcement of your ability to be fully alive.

Notice the fear, breathe the fear and remember

that life penetrating you is often an act of love. And

when it lacks warmth, simply ask, “What are you asking

of me”? And then, listen again and again.

Vulnerability means being moved. You were always

meant to be a herald of a new message, moved toward

a new vision of yourself and of life. Vulnerability

offers an invitation to drink of life in a

new way. As you quench your thirst, you open to

a dance that has been waiting for you. You are moved

toward a wildness unwilling to be unnecessarily

domesticated.