The Emotional Striptease You Didn’t Know You Needed

Why It’s Time to Stop Playing Fort and Start Letting Someone In (Hint: They Won’t Break You… Probably)

The Armor We Wear

Sometimes, we all do this thing. You know, the whole "build an emotional fortress" routine. We’ve all been there, right? If I had a dollar for every time I built a wall, I could probably buy an actual castle by now. But hey, who needs vulnerability when you’ve got your trusty armor and a whole stack of bricks between you and the world?

Here’s the deal: I’ve spent way too much time behind those walls, pretending I’m safe. And you know what? It doesn’t actually work. No, it doesn't. Shocking, I know. There’s only so much your emotional armor can do before you realize it's just a constant reminder that you're afraid. It’s like walking around with a "fragile" sticker on your heart, expecting everyone to handle you with care while secretly wishing they'd drop the box so you can throw a fit.

But there was this one guy. How he managed to stick around through all of it, I’ll never know. Maybe he just liked a good challenge, or he thought he could “fix me” (spoiler alert: no one can fix anyone except themselves). But, whatever it was, he was patient. He didn’t stomp on my heart. He didn’t try to break down my walls with a sledgehammer. Nope, he stood there—hands up, waving a white flag, like “I’m not here to fight you!” And what did I do? I built more walls, of course.

Why? Because I didn’t listen. I was still stuck in “I’ll show them first!” mode.

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A Letter to Myself -

Let Go of the Armor (Before I Lose My Mind)

Alright, here we go. Time to have the real talk.

I’m telling you, you don’t need the armor anymore. Seriously, the emotional armor you’ve been wearing since 2004 (or whenever you got really hurt) has got to go. It’s not cute. And honestly, it's heavy. And it’s scratching your insides. I mean, think about it: you’re carrying around this thing like it’s a cute little accessory, but really? It’s holding you back.