Being vulnerable is about surrendering the illusion of control. Letting someone in. Letting yourself be seen. Letting the ugly, beautiful, messy, unfinished parts of your soul walk into the light, without flinching.
In this exercise, you’ll examine the moments you chose vulnerability: times when you cracked open instead of locking down, when you took the risk of being real instead of being safe. These experiences are often raw, but they’re also sacred. They mark the places where connection, courage, and healing truly begin.
Core Ideas:
- Vulnerability is not exposure; it’s consent to be seen.
- It’s a strength forged in honesty, not invincibility.
- Deep connection requires deep risk.
- Shadow work demands truth, and truth isn’t always tidy.
Shadow Writing Prompts
Prompt -11a: The Choice to Be Seen
Describe a moment when you consciously chose to be vulnerable instead of hiding or performing. What was at stake in that moment: rejection, judgement, failure? What made you open up, and what did it feel like in your body and psyche as it was happening?
Prompt -11b: The Ripple Effect
Reflect on how this moment of vulnerability affected your relationship with yourself and others. Did it deepen intimacy, provoke fear, or inspire transformation? What kind of connection was formed, or fractured, because you allowed your authentic self to emerge?
Prompt -11c: The Strength Beneath the Skin
Examine the power that came from that experience. How did embracing vulnerability expand your capacity for courage, empathy, or truth-telling? In what ways did that choice make you more grounded, more real, or more whole?
Prompt -11d: Living Without Armour
Consider how you can bring more intentional vulnerability into your current life. Where are you still holding back, and why? What would it mean to drop your defences in one specific area of your life right now, and what transformation might that create?
This one isn’t about bleeding out. It’s about learning that your scars don’t make you weak.
They’re proof that you lived and dared to love.
