Vulnerability. Strength.

At first glimpse, it is easy to understand vulnerability as something negative. Something to avoid. We expose ourselves to harm and danger. We risk being attacked and injured. The word vulnerability brings out associations of weakness and maybe even stupidity. "Susceptibility of a person, group, society or system to physical or emotional injury or attack." That is one of the definitions you can find on Wikipedia. And of course this is a very important aspect of what vulnerability is. As such, we have come to shun it. Not only is it something we try to avoid and to protect us from, it has also become something we deny knowing at all. Or maybe we can see it in others but not in ourselves. And if we can feel it ourselves, we are not in a hurry to admit it to the world. Yet it's blatantly obviously there.

As said before, I am sure it is a feeling we all have experienced in one or another aspect of our lives, as individuals. But our vulnerability is also visible elsewhere. We have large faith for example in our economical systems and in the benefits and protection of capitalsim, yet many countries have recently suffered severe economical crises. Not that our systems are necessarily wrong, but are they devoid of vulnerability? As humans our vulnerability shows for example in the face of natural disasters, and in our seeming unability to live peacefully, without warfare. We take advantage of the vulnerability of nature and eploit it way beyond it's healthy limits and therby risk our own existence.

So, vulnerability is bad? So, we need to be strong and forceful and protect ourselves against all these things? What then is strength and protection? Is it to make shields and covers behind which to hide? Sometimes it is. If somebody attacks you or your child for example, of course you need to take measures to protect yourself and her/him. But let's also look at another aspect of - vulnerability. "Letting your guard down, leaving yourself open to censure or critisism". At first this seems to more or of the bad, but at the same time I'm thinking maybe not. Letting your guard down means opening up for the surrounding world. Sure, this results in a possibility that you will be harmed, but it also means you open up for good things as love, as actually being in a real relationship with your environment. And maybe here vulnerability and strength join hands. Through opening up our hearts to The Other, and to ourselves as we are in this very moment, to our deep and unavoidable connection to earth. Maybe this is how we become strong and find protection, through daring to be vulnerable. Maybe through these symbolic skins we can learn something about what we fear and what gives us a sense of safety and courage. Maybe for example my "water-skin" is a symbol of my need and love for a sincere connection to nature, and maybe through giving myself the experience of this connection I can - as beautifully written in one of the comments - open my skin up a bit to allow others coming near me.