Emotional Vulnerability - As a child I had sticky out ears which attracted alot of negative attention in the form of name-calling.  I remember my parents encouraging me to  rhyme the words -  "sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me" to these name callers in an effort to get them to leave me alone. Sometimes it worked and other times I ended up in physical confrontations with them leading me into further trouble.

By the time I was eighteen, I was so paranoid about how I looked that I used  savings from my first job in McDonalds as collateral to take out a credit union loan and organised surgery to have my ears pinned back.

Words hurt very much.

I will also explore, how important Emotional vulnerability is in our lives and how we can strive and survive when we are at our most vulnerable?

How as a man do I balance being a soft , caring, understanding, open, empathic, congruent, gentle-man without  allowing myself to be walked all over, taken advantage of and rescue others.

I will reflect on how the feminine by nature can experience and express emotions in a deeply sensitive way when needed.  This is vital for survival of humanity. However, expression and experience of these emotions by the feminine has become more stigmatized and can be viewed as weakness, supressing the power of the feminine.

I will also talk about how important vulnerability is in intimate relationships and reflect on what I have learned while working in a professional capacity with couples who are struggling in their intimate relationships.  I will explore how feelings of fear can block emotional vulnerability in relationships and how this leads to arguments and disconnection.