Vulnerability in Art

People think of vulnerability as weakness, as fear, as betrayal and hurt. Whenever we are in a situation that demands us to be vulnerable, we start feeling threatened as if a trigger has been pulled and our survival mode has been activated. We conjure pretending as if nothing bothers us. But I often think about what really happens when we open ourselves and become vulnerable.

According to research professor and author Brené Brown, vulnerability is the core of all emotions and feelings. To feel is to be vulnerable.

 And that’s what makes us artists, creators. As artists we should never not put work out because of fear, that even if one other person finds something in our art that speaks to them it’s our job to put our work out there to be found by that person. Vulnerability comes from honesty, from sharing a part of ourselves and that has value – if it didn’t it likely wouldn’t be so terrifying in the first place.

When we share our art, our writing, we share who we are, our ideas and our emotions, with the risk of not being accepted or appreciated. This also means to be vulnerable. And that’s where we get the good stuff.