I think therapy for me, both individual sessions and "collectively" was a bit like I felt my creativity and "ideas" were. I was afraid if I talked about or shared them, if others took and used them that I would in some way have less. I gradually figured out over the years that it's not like that and the more you "use"/share something the more you have, one cannot hoard feelings, thoughts and ideas in order to keep them safe; they won't grow that way.

I guess the concrete thought that got my thinking in a different direction was C.S. Lewis in his book, Mere Christianity I think it is, where he shares his believe that the only books you get in Heaven are the books you share here on earth :-) I was always very protective of my much loved books and wouldn't show/lend them to anybody but Lewis' lighthearted thought got me turned around and I realized I had to lend out my favorites, especially! :-)

I began to understand that my experiences, thoughts, ideas, creativity, curiosity, struggles, and the little nuances that make me, "Me" are the only things I truly have to share and only way I have to become "known" by others. It is only by sharing myself that I can understand that others have similar problems and feelings to mine and it's only by my being vulnerable that others can find a way to "connect" with me; building walls of any sort doesn't "protect" me, it kills me!