exposure equals weakness. When we asked the question “How does vulnerability feel?” the answers were equally as powerful: It’s taking off the mask and hoping the real me isn’t too disappointing. Not sucking it in anymore. It’s where courage and fear meet. You are halfway across a tightrope, and moving forward and going back are both just as scary.

We already have them; we feel close and loved. It’s secure and it’s intimate, but often this comes at the cost of the excitement we also seek. For many of us, eroticism is the space between two parts of ourselves: our vulnerability and our excitement. This tension is the grain of sand that creates the pearl we call desire.

the feeling of sadness as an example. An open, receptive approach to this emotion might be, “Ah, a deep heavy feeling of sadness, how exquisite. Hmm, let me feel into this, what is the texture, the sound? It's rather spongy, and when I pay close attention, I notice in my heart it sounds like a slow xylophone melody playing in a rainy alley.” As