[Vulnerability and Power - XXXV]
There is no community without vulnerability.
Assemblies? Sure. Gatherings? Okay.Parties? Yeah. But community? No.
Community is not hard because nobody wants to make genuine connections. We all want that! Community is hard because vulnerability is hard. And vulnerability is first and foremost *honesty*. About the parts of ourselves we’d rather leave out.
There’s no magic community potion hidden in the apothecary of your wounds. But when we edit out parts of who we are, we aren't fully present; and we implicitly encourage the idealized projections of others.
The space might be safe from harm, but it will never be deeply safe. The gathering might not be fraught with threats on our wellbeing, but is won’t every be full of the potential for true connection. It’s free of vulnerability, and it’s free of community.
