The Power of Vulnerability: How Sharing Your Truth Strengthens Human Connection

Being vulnerable with yourself first and foremost is incredibly important as it allows you to deeply understand your experiences and emotions. Once you start practicing vulnerability with yourself, you may find the confidence to start sharing more with other people—not just anyone, but the right person. The person who will support you, listen to you, and hold space for you.

The funny thing is, when we open up to each other, we often realize that we have much more in common than we thought. I’ve experienced this time and time again—having the courage to be vulnerable and share something I was going through led to stronger, deeper connections than I expected. The gift of vulnerability fosters connection, strengthens relationships, and creates a support system for both you and those around you.

Every time I have taken the risk and been vulnerable, my support system has grown stronger and closer. Here are three experiences from my life where vulnerability helped me build deeper relationships:

Revealing Childhood Trauma: How Vulnerability Opened the Door to Healing

When I left home for college and moved to California, I thought I could leave the chaos of my upbringing behind. But as I settled into my new life, I struggled with student responsibilities and my mental health. Looking back, I recognize that I was experiencing early symptoms of PTSD—bouts of depression, social anxiety, and an overwhelming sense of disconnection.

Despite my struggles, I was lucky to meet a few amazing women in my junior year, who later became my roommates and closest friends. One night, during a late-night conversation, I opened up to my roommate about a particularly painful memory from my childhood. Even years later, sharing this story made me cry and triggered intense emotions.

Instead of brushing it off, my roommate validated my experience. She told me what happened to me wasn’t okay—it was traumatic and abusive. Up until that point, I had internalized the experience as my fault (a common response for children who grow up in dysfunctional environments). Her words helped me see my past in a new light.

Children who experience adversity often don’t realize what is “normal” because their reality has been shaped by their experiences. They carry guilt, believing they weren’t good enough, grateful enough, or well-behaved enough. That night, by sharing my story and being truly heard, I felt the weight of those false beliefs begin to lift. My roommate’s support reassured me that I wasn’t alone and that I did, in fact, belong.

Secrets Don’t Make Friends: How Vulnerability Creates Unexpected Bonds

From the outside looking in, no one would have guessed what was happening in my family while I was growing up. And that’s exactly how we wanted it. We worked hard to keep up appearances and avoid questions.

About five years ago, I had a conversation with a childhood friend who had also kept her home life private. We had grown up across the street from each other, sat in the same classrooms, played at each other's houses—but never once had we discussed our personal struggles. When I finally gathered the courage to ask her about her family, I was stunned. We had both been raised in homes affected by mental illness.

Growing up, I often felt lonely, believing no one else could understand my experiences. It was almost painful to discover—years later—that I had a friend who had been going through something so similar all along. We had shared lunches and homework, yet we had never shared the one thing that could have connected us on a deeper level.

This experience taught me a profound lesson: When we keep our struggles to ourselves, we miss out on opportunities for connection and support. You’d be surprised to find that, in a room full of strangers, many of us have shared struggles—we just need the courage to open up.

Embracing Vulnerability in My Work: How Sharing My Story Strengthened My Community

Last year, I launched my blog. One of the first posts I wrote was about my childhood—about realizing that my experiences were more than just “dysfunctional family antics.” They were trauma. Writing that blog was one of the most challenging things I’ve done. My memories from growing up are fragmented, and revisiting them was incredibly triggering. On top of that, the world was in crisis due to the pandemic, making emotional processing even more difficult.

Despite my fears, I published the blog. Along with it, I sent out a newsletter titled “What’s the Big Family Secret?”—a reflection on the hidden struggles many of us carry.

One of my yoga friends, someone I had known for three years, received that email. We had always been close in a surface-level way, exchanging yoga for design services and staying connected even after she moved to the Pacific Northwest. Yet, in all those years, we had never had a truly deep conversation.

That changed when she read my blog. She reached out, sharing that she, too, had grown up in a dysfunctional family system. For years, we had been practicing yoga together without ever discussing the personal histories that shaped us. Once we finally opened up, our connection deepened in ways I never expected.

These experiences remind me that vulnerability isn’t just about personal healing—it’s about creating space for others to be seen and understood as well.

Vulnerability is the Key to Real Connection

I’ve seen versions of this quote pop up everywhere lately: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.” It’s a great reminder to practice kindness, but I’d like to take it a step further.

What if, instead of just being kind, we were also vulnerable? Kindness is important, but it doesn’t necessarily lead to deep connection. Vulnerability does. When we share our struggles, we create empathy, build stronger relationships, and develop true support systems.

So, let’s not just practice kindness—let’s be open. Let’s share our truths. Let’s connect in ways that go beyond the surface.

Because when we do, we realize we were never alone to begin with.