“To love at all is to be vulnerable. “ – CS Lewis
One of the key factors in the Enhanced Trust Factor put forth by Stolk and Templin (based upon the work of Green, Maister, and Galford in “The Trusted Advisor”) is Intimacy. Intimacy is an openness, exposing your softest and darkest parts. A potential for injury by handing the knife to a person and showing them exactly where your armor has a chink that could be fatal. Vulnerable.
To love someone is to bare your breast and place the point of the blade upon it.
It is to open up the book of your secrets and point to the worst ones, letting them read the darkest parts of you and praying they flinch but don’t run.
It is to tell them the most devastating ways to hurt you, hoping that they won’t and your mutual demons instead of tearing each other apart can play nice. Or even better support each other and turn from Hell toward Heaven with the other’s assistance.
Love requires risk; risk of getting hurt in ways you can’t yet comprehend and to have your soul bleed. But if you do not expose your very essence to them, they can’t help you heal your traumas or understand your weaknesses so that they can help be your strengths and salve.
Love means openness, and when our arms are open to another we are at our most vulnerable. If someone opens up to you, treasure and protect their exposed heart.