The more we know each other, the sooner we lower the barriers of self protection. We often approach others as if we were knights in armor. Probably because intimacy is frightening to us. It may be the single most frightening thing we face. Being intimate is letting every part of me connect or touch with every part of you.
Intimacy is total vulnerability.
Now I am totally defenseless. You will hurt me in ways no other person could. What we cherish most we often chase away in many creative, fearful ways. We are so afraid of hurting others and of being hurt that we do the very thing that is guaranteed to destroy what we cherish. The paradox of being totally naked, vulnerable and intimate is that we are also totally potent.