Flight with Weighted Wings - Johanna O'Flaherty - Bog

History is taught through stories; the young gather at the knees of their elders, and listen. The elders may not only be gathered to speak, to inform, but may also be gathered to heal themselves. I am a person who often doesn't know how I feel or what I need until I write it or somehow articulate it out loud. The telling of my story is not only for your eyes; it is also for my own understanding. After a recent talk I gave on the correlation of multi-generational trauma and addiction, several attendees approached and began to share aspects of their personal stories. We were united, connected at a deep, communal level in understanding the pain of traumatic childhood experiences that haunt, and hinder, many of us to this day. We share our personal stories of trauma to help disempower the traumatic event. Traumatic experiences leave us feeling exposed and vulnerable, stripped by circumstances beyond our personal control. Many of us suffer in silence. We are too ashamed to share our traumatic experience with anyone, afraid others will judge us, or use it against us somehow. Many of us don't have the words to describe what has happened to us; others of us have pushed the memories so far underground that words alone can't excavate.