The road to recovery becomes paved with insights over time. The journey begins in the deep, dark, and intimidating forests of our experience where no path is visible.
Finding our way to the sunny meadows of our lives is a daunting adventure of self-empowerment, but we don’t have to travel alone. Since sexual abuse was first declared a “crime” in literature of the 80’s, many allies have armed themselves with knowledge, compassion, and tools for helping us. We have to point the direction with each step we take, but therapists, survivors groups, and books can provide light. So can body work, energy insights, healing touch, shaman ceremonies, hand analysis, and other healings of heart and spirit. Only we can choose the pace or who we will invite in our circle of support. That choice is part of our healing. It defines us and calls on us to trust our inner wisdom.
And though abuse left us feeling powerless in so many ways, we do take this journey with a bag of personal tools for healing. Our inner wisdom is a glowing ember and, each time we trust our instincts, it becomes a stronger ally. The courage that helped us survive is like cape, always there to wrap around us when we need its warmth. Feelings are our compass. A sandwich of hope and determination is there to nourish us.
Healing asks us to create a map when we feel utterly lost, but others are leaving clues along the way if we choose to use them. And there are treasures along the way. Every time we embrace the insights that come with seeing our past experience through the lens of our current circumstance, we release what has held us captive. Old reality shifts to a new perspective. Change happens. Step by step, we find ourselves living in a different world, leaving the dark forest behind.
