Scars of the Past

It is as though some old part of yourself wakes up in you, terrified, useless in the life you have, its skills and habits destructive but intact, and what is left of the present you, the person you have become, wilts and shrivels in sadness or despair: the person you have become is only a thin shell over this other, more electric and endangered self.

The strongest, the least digested parts of your experience can rise up and put you back where you were when they occurred; all the rest of you stands back and weeps.

Triggers are like little psychic explosions that crash through avoidance and bring the dissociated, avoided trauma suddenly, unexpectedly, back into consciousness.

The scars of your past do not define you, but they have made you wise.

Your past failures were not meant to break you down, but break you open. You are not your worst moment, your darkness or your fears.

You are a powerful beyond measures, resilient and wise.

Temper to thank all of you past selves for carrying you to this moment in your healing.

Healing doesn’t mean you’ll never get triggered again, or that eventually you’re going to arrive somewhere free of any pain or past suffering. Healing is a quiet homecoming. It is about returning to yourself and settling peacefully into the truth of who you are. Not incomplete, not broken. Whole, lovable, human. 

Nevermind the voice that tells you you’re broken. The voice that says you’re not enough or that healing is unreachable.

Never mind the voice that says “you won’t like what you find, don’t look.

Healing is a quiet homecoming.

It is returning to the truth that you are whole and complete.

That you don’t need fixing.

Being human can be hard, and it can also be beautiful.

Open yourself to the full spectrum of this human experience, the depth and wisdom of your life will find you

My struggles have been converted into treasures that are the alchemy of my soul. These struggles are the gold that I use to help other people find their truth and with which I guide them along their path of healing.

Charlotte Byrom