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Vulnerability is More Than Emotional
There is physical vulnerability, too.
There is something so incredibly raw and honest about sleeping next to someone.
We are all at our most truly vulnerable when asleep.
Anything could happen.
And the trust you must have with the other person sharing your room or your bed is incredible.
For one thing, you cannot control how you look or the sounds you make when asleep.
No matter how attractive you are awake, when you’re sleeping you could be mouth open, drooling, snoring, shirt twisted up, tummy hanging out, and hair everywhere.
You may snore, sleep-fart, wheeze, make weird little noises from a bad dream — anything.
Secondly, you are physically incredibly vulnerable — when fully asleep, you don’t know if someone is walking up to you, taking a picture, about to touch you, etc.
It is a sign of huge trust, even if you don’t think of it that way.
You also can’t control your movements in your sleep. Maybe you toss and turn and kick and wake up your bedfellow. Maybe you threw your arm out and accidentally smack them in the head (…not that I have definitely done this to my husband…).