Vulnerable: Habitat for Our Humanity
“The only choice we have as we mature is how to inhabit our vulnerability…”—David Whyte.
Vulnerability. Poet David Whyte gives us one word to take with us today. Vulnerability, however, does not live alone but resides in the word community.
Intimacy. Another word that lives with vulnerability. We allow someone we trust to see and hear our inner thoughts and concerns, our highs and lows.
Humility is also a close family member of this word community. We don’t think of ourselves as any better than someone else.
Humanness whispers in the ear of vulnerability. We are to take off our mask of “perfection.” We are to admit promptly our mistakes to others and learn from them.
Forgiveness must also be a beloved companion of vulnerability. We are to ask for forgiveness when we have wronged others and be ready to forgive ourselves for our own mistakes.
Vulnerability, intimacy, humility, humanness, and forgiveness are five construction workers in a family business crucial for building our own Habitat for Humanity.
David Whyte, Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment, and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words (Canongate Books 2019)
Joanna. Joannaseibert.com. https://www.joannaseibert.com/