beyond the lens of basic memory
An important take on the idea we are "broken" and the value of writing in wellbeing. One of the many reasons that journaling is a powerful tool to use in our healing process is that our human stories are so much more complex and dynamic than what our memory story often reveals. Beyond the lens of our basic memory story, there are hundreds of other stories. Not broken but rather, whole and imperfect. Wounded, tender, striving, evolving, fearful, full of hope and healing. For those who are working through their challenging experiences it is important that we pay close attention to our inner dialogue and stories, especially when we use words like "broken".
In the long ago past, we were called "broken" because we were considered property and a raped female (child or grown up) was less valuable to those marrying us off, or to those whom we were married. We literally had a commercial value and that value dropped once we were no longer virginal or when we were defiled by another man and no longer "purely our husbands; so we were essentially ruined When we accept the story of broken, we are adopting a stance that our worth and value as a human changes based on any action against us. We are placing our precious inherent value and wholeness into outside hands. There are so many cultural meta- narratives that we must guard against as we find our own way home to ourselves. Finding the balance and resistance between the old story narrative of broken and the equally skewed, relentlessly cheerful, spiritual bypassing of gratitude (not saying we cannot be grateful or get there) to a place that honors us, our deep knowing of our own reference point in each moment is at the heart of this soul nourishing work. ❤
In the long ago past, we were called "broken" because we were considered property and a raped female (child or grown up) was less valuable to those marrying us off, or to those whom we were married. We literally had a commercial value and that value dropped once we were no longer virginal or when we were defiled by another man and no longer "purely our husbands; so we were essentially ruined When we accept the story of broken, we are adopting a stance that our worth and value as a human changes based on any action against us. We are placing our precious inherent value and wholeness into outside hands. There are so many cultural meta- narratives that we must guard against as we find our own way home to ourselves. Finding the balance and resistance between the old story narrative of broken and the equally skewed, relentlessly cheerful, spiritual bypassing of gratitude (not saying we cannot be grateful or get there) to a place that honors us, our deep knowing of our own reference point in each moment is at the heart of this soul nourishing work. ❤