Once upon a time there was a woman who lived in a fine house. She longed to have guests over to laugh with and authentically connect. 

But she felt her house, even though it was a fine house, wasn’t clean enough, her furniture wasn’t stylish enough, and that SHE wasn’t good enough. 

The woman had one specific room in her fine house that had stringy cobwebs in the corners, dust that covered the furniture in a blanket of grey, and a sturdy collection of random piles of “homeless” items that just kept growing. 

There they laid. She told herself countless times that she would clean it all up….someday. 

But the higher the piles grew in her fine house, the more overwhelmed the woman became. She eventually gave up hope that “someday” would ever come.

She shamefully conceded and closed the door to hide the disarray from others and herself. And just to be safe, visitors were never welcomed inside her house. 

As years passed, the piles in the secret room grew, along with the shame, – as shame does in secret places.

Eventually, even though it was just one room in her fine house, that room of shame was all she could see. 

I can so relate to that woman. Once upon a time, I believed the imperfections of my daily house keeping (or lack of) was a reflection of the the shame I felt. 

So I kept others away. I didn’t want them to see those imperfections….inside my house and…. inside of me.

This week life placed me in front of the room of shame and pain that resides with in me, and nudged me (more like a kick in the butt) to open that door and share its contents with a proven, trustworthy and faithful person. 

With support, I opened the door. 

Not gonna lie, it was hard and painful – still is. Not only did I make my pain and shame visible to another pair of eyes, I had to look at it, too. 

Vulnerability can be gut-wrenchingly painful. But it is the door that must be open to experience the depth of love that the heart longs for. 

That’s why in this week’s Live @ 1:05 I shared tips on how to nurture yourself in vulnerability.

If you know someone who would benefit from this, please share!