As you might know by now, I love to share what I come across during my week, and this video below, and the man in it, and his story, is a PERFECT example of someone with:

  • Early trauma from the very start (it looks like in utero, born addicted to drugs, and premature).
  • Loving adoptive parents who cared for him deeply!!
  • Little self-regulation capacity to be able to self-soothe, perhaps connect and show vulnerability to get the help he needed (before his attempted suicide).
  • Some kind of blessing from the gods given to him so he could stick around and teach all of us 🙂

++ Watch It Now ++

When it comes to early trauma and healing it, love is not enough. * To heal early trauma, especially in utero and developmental trauma, one needs work specifically developed for healing at this foundational level. †

I believe these stories, and this one above, are important ones.

Sort of like near-death experience (NDE) stories that people share. You know, those folks who have been privileged to experience the ‘not here – nor fully crossed over’ state of being. ‡

From many accounts of NDEs, people will often say that they see and feel how truly One and Connected everyone is on this planet (while in the NDE). They will also recount that when they have this blip in time they see that the bigger picture, and what that picture shows, is that there is no division between humans, earth, nature (we just make it that way via competition and all the ways we divide ourselves, blame, punish, reward, and so on).

These folks who come back, sense and feel the full connectedness and goodness that exists in the world, as it always has.

So, all that to say . . .

I believe there’s a level of humanity in this video clip that we need more of right now.

And yes, some might find it to be triggering, but I want to encourage you to celebrate the life that exists in this young man, and know that this video might help one more soul make a choice to heal and stick around to do good in the world.

For me, this is goodness.

And one important note that I’d love to share around trigger warnings . . .

I’ve never been a big fan of the use of “trigger warning” before more sensitive posts and shares, because I feel we must develop more empathy and capacity to be with the big issues that we come across, almost daily.

For example, someone’s trigger warning might be the exact message someone else needs to hear to help them move forward and learn, and they might not get that message for fear of the trigger warning that introduces an article or post. Just saying “trigger” induces just that, a trigger – before we even dive into the learning. Then, there are some articles and posts that might not seem triggering at all to the person sharing, but could be a sensitive and sore spot to another.

You see?

Why do we have these differences in how we take in info that the world brings us?

I think it’s because of our different experiences, how we’ve coped and managed and survived and healed (or not), and so on.

The more capacity we build, the more we can take on in a good ‘healthy kind’ of way.

The more healing of trauma we do in our lifetime, the better this world will be.

One way to accomplish these two things – build capacity and heal trauma – is to learn from those who have experienced it, survived it, and are now thriving.

Thanks for being here and learning.

The world loves you for it.

Irene.

* * *

Postscripts

* I spoke about this topic (that love is not enough when healing from early and developmental trauma) in a few vlogs – this one & this one – if you want to take a look at those a little later.

† I’m happy to announce that in the New Year, two experts in this field, Kathy Kain & Stephen Terrell, two mentors I’ve been studying with since 2013, will have their first book out, Nurturing Resilience. Helping Clients Move Forward from Developmental Trauma – An Integrative Somatic Approach, on this delicate subject matter!

‡ If you ever want to read an amazing memoir of a near death experience and the miraculous healing that came from it, definitely check out Anita Moorjani’s book, Dying To Be Me – My Journey from Cancer, to Near Death, to True Healing. Now, if you’re more of a movie goer, I can’t recommend enough, The Hereafter, directed and scored by Clint Eastwood (the soundtrack is amazing!). This movie tells a lovely tale of synchronicity, meaning and following your own path (this is one of the few movies I’ve watched multiple times!)