September 16, 2011 – Over the past year and start of this semester, the topic of vulnerability has crept into almost every conversation. Being involved in service, vulnerability is a big deal…heck, in life vulnerability is a BIG deal. We as a society have a hard time being vulnerable with one another, but why is it so hard?
Vulnerability is defined in the dictionary as “being susceptible to physical or emotional injury”. I can see why people would not want to be vulnerable; no one wants to get hurt. It is hard for people, including myself, to be completely open to one person let alone the other billions of people in the world.
We are scared to let everyone see everything about ourselves. Is it because we are scared they will judge us in some way? Yes, but I have learned that this shouldn’t matter because more than likely there is at least one other person with the same problem as you. The judgment of others is prohibiting us from opening up.
So what does vulnerability and service have to do with one another? Well, in my opinion, they have everything to do with one another. The person who we are serving has to be willing to open themselves up and let us enter their world, in order to serve. We the servers, have to be willing to open ourselves up to the environment in order to take something away.
I think a common misconception about service is that we have to “help those less fortunate than us”, making us pity them. While they may not have the same luxuries we have, in my experience there is nothing about them that should make us pity them. While we are helping them in a way that maybe they are unable to themselves, the fact is we can learn something from them.
We can learn how to interact with a complete stranger, a practice we can and should carry throughout our lives. When we serve, we are making ourselves vulnerable to different situations around the world, seeing things that can make a lasting impression on us as individuals.
I will admit I have not completely opened my heart and mind to everything around me. However, I am now slowing breaking down those barriers due to my different service experiences and life situations that have arisen throughout my life. If as a society we can learn to open our hearts and minds to others around us and take the time to listen to the stories that can be shared, we can all become better people.
The stories of others shape who they are, they are a tool we can learn from…but first we must become vulnerable enough to tell these stories, the good and bad, and be willing to listen. Vulnerability will be the key to breaking down these societal barriers that hold us back as a nation. Through the actions of others becoming vulnerable to one another we can become a stronger community.
-Erin (CA)