Heard, Held and Loved

12/12/2022

Most of us cannot be great heroes. However, we all have the capacity to be ordinary heroes.
Mary Piper, psychologist and author

“We hold the vision of a society that can acknowledge the truth about shame and the pain of unmet needs that live quietly but widely among us. Trauma cannot always be conquered, fixed, or resolved, but it can be heard, held and loved,” write filmmakers Maurizio and Zaya Benazzo, who directed and produced the film The Wisdom of Trauma.

In her compelling book, Happiness is Running Through the Streets to Find You, Holly Elissa Bruno shares her own journey through trauma and declares,

Trauma is deadly, yes, to body and spirit. Wounded people die from gunshots, suicide, addictions, extreme choices and broken hearts.

Trauma does not have to kill the soul. No one steals my soul anymore. On that I have made my choice.

Trauma can be something other than a neck-breaking albatross. Trauma is my most rigorous guide. Trauma is my unchosen but compelling pathway to a life of meaning, an uplifting appreciation of beauty and a deeply anchored conviction to make the world better for every child.

Our painful past can become our greatest asset if we choose.

Declaring a truce with trauma has given me my life back. Without that truce, my life was stolen, buried with my ancestors’ histories.

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