 Hi, my name is Danny and welcome to Esoteric Moment. I had been meaning to get a video done for Emolk last week, but we had this glorious, very windy snowstorm and it just didn't happen. I was too busy enjoying the weather. So this week I thought I would throw some thoughts out to the ether of the internet, but a warning, they're very half finished, still kind of rambly. So bear with me. I've been a lot of things in my life the last couple months that I'm beginning to realize have all been directly related to vulnerability and how I deal with being vulnerable to others. I don't want to go into all of the details about everything, but I do want to share a little bit about the kind of moments of vulnerability lately. In December I had this interpersonal issue at work that had kind of been escalating for the whole year. Things at work escalated to a point where I needed to ask for help and I wasn't so comfortable with going to a supervisor and admitting that I was coming from an emotional place and I had let things get kind of out of hand. But when I did go to my supervisor, they were amazing. They had kind of observed the problem already, they were willing to work with me and this other person and while things were really tense in December, we kind of reached a point where we're both working together on a much more even keel level. It surprised me how easy it was to find a solution when I was honest with myself and others about how far things had escalated and I was willing to be vulnerable in front of my boss. There are other things in my life that have been kind of triggering being vulnerable. I started a YouTube channel which I had been meaning to do for a couple years. That's a new way of being vulnerable. I've also started seeing someone recently. It's very early so I'm not going to get into the details but being vulnerable in like romantic relationship or potentially romantic relationship is kind of terrifying right now. Now the person I'm seeing is great and there is no reason for me to be concerned or terrified of opening up and getting to know this person and establishing trust and being open to potential but I am. It was kind of what made me realize that I have been working up to this being vulnerable and being okay with being vulnerable for the last few months. And I noticed that even in my spiritual practice there are times where I am shying away from being vulnerable when really I know better for moments in the woods or when I'm meditating where on most days I'm perfectly okay with being open and vulnerable and aware of kind of the challenge of vulnerability. But then there are some days where I think I can just outrun being vulnerable and I let the fear of being open and present in the stillness of my spiritual practice kind of overcome what I really intend to be doing that day. Think vulnerability is critical in all aspects of our life in creating really powerful and meaningful relationships with other people. I think it's important to kind of all that self growth you can have in a spiritual practice critical to really be one with divinity however you see that. I think vulnerability also allows us to be really present and grounded in the earth and what we are exquisitely experiencing here in the present moment. But I also don't think vulnerability is easy. I don't think I'm the only one who struggles with that moment of vulnerability and how to approach it safely, wisely, comfortably. So I would love to hear how you use vulnerability in your relationships or in your spiritual practice. If you have any suggestions on how to get more comfortable with being vulnerable I would adore some advice. Here are some more rambly thoughts about vulnerability on my blog at esotericmoment.com. I have posted a link in the description below. Thanks for watching Esoteric Moment and I'll see you next week.