To The Human Who's Struggling,

To be vulnerable is to be naked. Actually naked. There is nothing more raw and authentic than the second you let someone in just a little bit more than the others. And then they keep uncovering and exploring this completely foreign side of you.

You're naked. Maybe not physically, but emotionally.

And throughout all of this, you're scared as hell. Because someone is seeing the real you. And has the ability to crush the real you.

But you forget that maybe this someone is seeing the real you, and falling in love with this person. And you forget what it feels like to truly trust someone with the gift of your true presence, because you've been hiding in the shadow of the person you want the rest of the world to see.

Being vulnerable is easier said than done. Some people are emotionally really open, while others are closed off — and this doesn't make them a bad person. Their experiences differentiate significantly from those who are emotionally open.

In my personal experience, the naturally open individuals were the ones who didn't experience as much emotional trauma in their lives, and instead used their openness to inspire those around them. The closed-off ones keep their guards up. They've been mistreated and broken by the ones they love. They've lost their faith in vulnerability being a good thing, and they live their everyday lives building a wall between superficial humanity and their personal humanity.

Don't get me wrong — some people can be naked and vulnerable physically, which is a whole different topic, but in a world that is petrified to go past the surface level, emotional vulnerability takes its own toll.

For some it takes a few days to openly share their story; for others, it takes years. One way to make it easier to open up is deciding when enough is enough. When you're tired of being scared and tired of being tired. When you realize it's OK not to be OK, and you understand that, by opening up, you'll find individuals with similar struggles and similar strengths. This could mean getting a fresh start: moving to a new city, surrounding yourself with new people, finding a new passion (or rekindling an old one) and just thriving on it. Whatever it may be, find it. Ignite your damn flame — the one that keeps getting put out by someone who's never seen the real you — and burn them. Leave a scar.

It's scary, but I'd rather have people see the real me and walk away than have them experience a facade and stay for the wrong reasons. Often times those people end up being the ones that hurt us, so what's the use in having them around?

The people we let in have the ability to hurt us too. They're the ones that emotionally skin you alive, the ones that puncture you the worst. And it's because they know you, because you let them in.

Let's put it this way: no matter how many times people have hurt you, no pain hurts worse than the one you inflict on yourself.

So to the human who's struggling: be brave. Show yourself off, flaws and all. Embrace the space you take up, whether little or big. Take a deep breath, and trust that the person you're opening up to will love you even more as they uncover every part of you.

To the human who's struggling: love yourself. Be vulnerable. You never know who could be witnessing your strength, and you never know who's life you extended by just being you.