shelter

When we share with another human our vulnerabilities, our anxieties, or our heartbreak about the world -- we create shelter. For a moment, we've created a tiny little place in this vast universe where, even if just for a breath, another human can feel less alone knowing that here is a person who speaks her truth, admits her faults, and carries the same great weight of the world on her own shoulders. This is refuge. We have the choice to make this shelter whenever, and for whomever, we choose.

Only when one can fully access her inner voice, can she begin to share this refuge with others.  Empathy is born out of the ability to access our own vulnerability, our own mistakes, our own fears, and the grit of our own humanity. The essence of intimacy is in the messy imperfection and awkwardness of our lives. It is those people who have granted themselves access to their own inner lives-- who know that the doors to those secret places in their own hearts can open and close by sharing and witnessing the most raw emotions-- who I most want to have in my life. Without this type of refuge in one other, we simply stay on the surface. On the surface, our relationships can never be more than simple and transactional. No thank you... I already have those relationships at the grocery store, the coffee shop, and the gas station.