Embracing vulnerability
You can measure how brave you are by how vulnerable you are willing to be.
© Pickle Illustration
A little market research of my own allowed me to draw up the common descriptive phrases and words people associate vulnerability with: Feeling insecure, feeling unsafe around people or in an environment, being too exposed and naked, weakness, betrayal and hurt, standing in fear. I also would like to share moments I have felt most vulnerable:
Telling a boss I am terrified of presenting a pitch but letting them know I’m going to do it anyway
When expressing my deepest, darkest insecurities and fears to someone I trust
Speaking my truest feelings
Posting my work on social media and exposing it up to feedback, opinions, judgements
Presenting my design work to anyone, every time
Letting go of past experiences and relationships and embracing aloneness and the unknown
Walking into self-employment and not having the security of others around me - having to create my own salary, create my own opportunities and be completely responsible for my life
Now if an external party read that list out to me I would think they are reading a list about bravery. I encourage you to write a similar list of moments you have felt vulnerable in your life and ask yourself does it sound like a list of weakness or courage? Vulnerability is the first thing we look for in others - seen as courage, and the last thing we are willing to show - felt as weakness.
© Pickle Illustration
We are all vulnerable, no matter how much you try to avoid it. But there is no use in erecting barriers around yourself whilst also hoping others will see your growth and authenticity. This wall we build to ‘protect’ ourselves prevents our truest selves being known.
For me courage and vulnerability are one and the same - I can’t be one without the other as they occupy the same space inside of me. We must accept, embrace and comfort our vulnerability in order to strengthen our emotional well-being. So let’s explore how to embrace vulnerability:
““Vulnerability is having the courage to show up and be seen when we have no control over the outcome” ”
Stepping into the unknown.
It is within the unknown where our greatest potential lies. The unknown terrifies me if I am honest, I have never liked change and I am working on my relationship with both. It’s that unstable feeling when you step out of your comfort zone or do something that forces you to loosen control or grip. But I am a student of vulnerability and I aim to explore uncertainty and risk and ultimately fearlessness. I do not aim to be as brave as anyone else, I aim to just be. To allow myself to be exactly where I am right now in the midst of this journey. By taking small risks daily or doing something that scares us, we are able to soften to the unknown.
© Pickle Illustration
Accept yourself.
Vulnerability encourages you to unify with your authentic self, rather than hiding behind a facade to pacify others. We must self-examine and remove judgement of the fears and insecurities we link to vulnerability, we can then face them and nurture them into our biggest strengths. The list I wrote at the top of this article will become my biggest strengths. The challenge is to become comfortable feeling the innate vulnerability of being human. If you can hold this with loving attention then you allow the difficult feelings to move through you and blossom. We are all imperfect, yet it is within the realm of our imperfections that we find wholeness and acceptance.
Not caring what others think.
This leads to removing the fear of what others think or see. If you can learn to judge yourself less to the point of removing self-judgement completely - then no-one else’s judgements will touch you. It will merely become a reflection of how they judge themselves and so the space you hold will allow your vulnerability and courage to grow peacefully.
As I am exploring my authenticity, I am learning to be more vulnerable and therefore more courageous. I am not an expert in the field - I am a student who hopes others can relate to this. If you are interested in this topic in particular then here are a few experts and books I recommend: Brene Browns’ Ted Talk on the power of vulnerability and her books Rising Strong and Daring Greatly. Glennon Doyles’ memoir ‘Untamed’ explores the joy and peace we discover when we stop striving to meet the expectations of the world.
Illustrations by Pickle Illustrations.
About the author
Tina is an independent Brand Designer who specialises in Brand Identity Design and Web Design. With more than 8 years experience working in multiple design disciplines, she has a strong vision to explore how design can impact the world and how her work, beliefs and passions can bring about meaningful change.
Her branding work connects the dots between creativity, exploration and meaning. Having left her recent role as Head of Design she now looks to create her own journey of seeding new collaborations and championing the younger generation of creatives.
