You are unhappy, but you are expected to laugh. You are scared, but you are expected to not act scared. You are angry but supposed to act calm. There are aggressive, unreasonable people out there whose behavior is tolerated by the rest of us because we are expected to act reasonably. We have armor that covers our core. We put on so many armors and with time, we end up losing touch with ourselves. We end up behaving as Society expects us to, rather than what we are feeling. We become lesser beings but more in line, with the public expectations of behavior. Being real is not acceptable anymore. I decided some time ago to open the door into myself. To be real and therefore vulnerable. Taking off the armor has not been easy, especially because there are endless layers, which I had cloaked myself with, over time. I was done not being myself but a caricature drawn by society. I was pleasantly surprised to find out who I was. I was and am, full of joys, sorrows, yearnings, gratefulness, shallowness, and awesomeness. I am perfect and imperfect at the same time, full of emotions and confusion. As the armor fell off, I felt extremely vulnerable. People who I am close to did not like that I started revealing myself rather than play by the rules of conduct of the world that we live in. As I became more comfortable with being vulnerable, a few people started becoming vulnerable at least with me and our relationships have gone to another level, in which truth and vulnerability reside. I feel more alive and breaths come lighter. A lot of my close relationships continue to live in the realm of the norms, that we are expected to live by, where there is fear of being judged. Perhaps there is the trepidation of disliking what the mirror reveals to you about yourself, as was the case with me. I am not burdened anymore to behave like someone I am not. I do not have to adopt a personality that I am not, for all of my life. People are judgmental. They pass judgments, on my behavior and actions, which I encourage by being vulnerable and all of them enhance me as a person and make me confront my demons. Life feels more manageable. It is more viable. Uncloaking myself and making myself vulnerable to all the forces around me, has opened me to what is possible. Laughter comes easily and frequently to me, as do the tears……..