Vulnerability and Authenticity: My Perspective

What is True Vulnerability and Authenticity?

Vulnerable: susceptible to physical or emotional attack or harm

Authentic: of undisputed origin; genuine:

Understand

The definitions of these terms are subjective in some ways I would say. I did not truly understand the difference between the two until I saw a girl on TikTok talking about it. I don’t know who or I would give her credit, but this was the most profound way for me to understand. Authenticity she explained is showing up as yourself and saying, “I have such a dirty house, this is my dirty house look at me this is who I am.” Vulnerability however is saying “I have such a dirty house look at my house, and I have this dirty house and sometimes it makes me feel like I am not good enough. I struggle to care for my surroundings because I’m experiencing depression” So authenticity is being unapologetically yourself and showing you, because we are all unique. Vulnerability is sharing your deeper thoughts feelings and experiences that come along with being authentically you. As the definition of vulnerable suggests, this opens you up to attack. I did not really realize the definition of the word until just now. It leaves lots of room for interpretation.

Application

I developed authenticity through college from 2017-2021, but I did not truly resonate with an authentic version of me until I moved to Scotland for my master’s program. I came back from that experience to Florida in 2022 with a new understanding of myself and confidence in being her. What is so fun about authenticity is it is ever flowing; I listen to my desire to transform and sometimes I resist that desire and sometimes I jump in. To be vulnerable, I have struggle with my own self confidence again. In 2025, I don’t know how to jump into my authenticity, I don’t really know what is calling to me. I feel this urge to transform (I am a Scorpio Rising). I feel like someone spun me around with my eyes closed, dropped me in a new place and said “discover”. So naturally I have a haircut appointment tomorrow!!! I’ll post the results 😛

Conclusion

Now, some people may not agree with me on this take of vulnerability and authenticity and what not, and maybe someone will send me a different perspective and I will resonate with that deeper. I leave room to change my mind because that is important to me. A value I hold dearly is having an open mind, being able to hear different perspectives and respect where they come from, compare them to what I know and then move forward. Either I integrate this new perspective and merge it with the old, I hold space for it and decide ultimately it is not for me but respect and appreciate hearing it, or I resonate deeply with it, and I allow it to take the space of the old perspective. This brings me to my next topic, perspective. Look out for that new blog post, coming soon…

Share your journey with authenticity with me in the comments.