Walls up or down?

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Do you go about your daily life with your walls up or down? Walls as in, those emotional boundaries/distance we set within ourselves to avoid getting hurt.

I'm not sure I've -ever- gone around in my life with my walls down. I'm not sure I could even if I tried most of the time. It's totally unconscious and automatic.

I tend to be a walls up type of person though I am trying to change that by being more open and honest with the people around me. It's been hell finding friends because my defenses tend to be pretty strong. That said, when I'm doing or talking about something that really interests me those walls tend to come down pretty quickly.

Walls up, roof and all, and several layers of them.

I have recently been installing doors in the walls, but i don't think i'll even tear them down.

People tell me I'm a "walls up" kind of girl, but I awlways felt really open and whatnot.

Who knows?

Walls up due to being bullied alot as a kid & my parents being critical of my Aspie quirks. My walls are down with my girlfriend thou & my walls aren't as high nowadays.

I'm only just discovering this and it is extremely interesting.
I didn't know what "walls down" even was until recently when I had it explained thoroughly by a councillor. Since, I have been attempting to take some of the walls down and am frankly astounded at how cooperative I can be.
Nothing bad happened when I stopped completely shutting everything out. The world didn't end. In fact, good things have happened since and even people who have known me a short time have remarked on the difference, that I seem "more open." That said, though, discretion is well advised. With some people, mostly family, walls stay firmly up and always will. There is too much good reason to be very, very distant.
"Opening up" freaks me out a bit as someone who spent 30 years in complete lockdown, and that is my natural state, and I do have instances of feeling too exposed and pulling walls back up, but it is improving.

Walls completely down, and I often engage in public stimming.

Sadly it all too often goes unnoticed, one the many flaws/perks of living in a small city with an excessively large Student population. People stop being surprised by all the crazy that goes by on a daily basic. Residents have become acclimated to it, everything is the same crap, it's just a different day.

Actually at work on Sunday someone told me that everyone at my new place of work really thinks that I'm a hoot. Go figure. Anyway, she also said I was a little closed off until they got to know "the real" me. So I actually keep my guard up until I get to know people and then the funny me comes out. I'm getting to really like the new people I work with now - I'm glad I ended up getting fired - things turned out for the better!

The only thing that makes me actually nervous is getting closer to people. It's not so bad when people aren't even part of my life and I don't feel attached to them.

I don't feel like people in my daily life are a threat (mostly people are on their phones, anyway), but I don't feel like I'm open with them, either.