Have you thought about showcasing vulnerability in friendships? A 11-year-old girl (Ankita) taught me the importance of vulnerability. In my knowledge, vulnerability is very intimidating, the more you expose the self, the more you push away your defenses. But in the long run, showcasing vulnerability is worth it!

I realized this through an internship at a school during undergrad. We were assigned to take the 5th grade children for one day/night trip and Ankita was one among them. When her parents came to drop her off at school, they informed us that their daughter was carrying a worn-out teddy in her bag, and they were worried that other children might tease her. The teddy was handmade by her grandmother and been with her from kindergarten. Now that Ankita was in 5th grade, she began hiding about the teddy from other friends as she was ashamed and felt vulnerable admitting that she sleeps with a worn-out teddy.

Post the day of activities, the children went to sleep in the beds assigned to each of them in a hall. All the children snuggled in the bed, but Ankita alone was tossing and turning. It was the battle of vulnerability that she was fighting thinking about keeping her teddy next to her. What do you think she did?

She quietly walked up to her bag placed in a corner, unzipped it and took out the teddy bear, walked back to her bed and tucked in. One of her friends immediately popped up and asked Ankita what was that? That night, Ankita mustered up the courage and showcased her vulnerability to her friends and talked about the teddy and how precious it was. No one laughed and everyone was listening. Slowly her friend got up, went to her bag and took out her dog picture, the other friend took out her mom’s blanket. Can you imagine each one was hiding something. Each one laughed and slept well that night and us interns and teachers were super happy.

That was the night I realized, the first step towards friendship is showing your true emotional self, in other words vulnerability. One might feel at risk but at the end strong bonds form due to it. I believe in the power of vulnerability.
When was the first time you saw vulnerability from a new perspective?
#Ibelieveinthepowerofvulnerability