The Unsaid
One of the unsaid for me, was I was not privy too and saw so little of, until much, much later in life was how to have fun. How to be an age-appropriate child and carry some of that to my future.
It wasn’t until my late twenties or so that I started to have an adult hopes, dreams, or possibilities. An unsaid in my world was to be wary, trust no one and take care of your own survival. Every step was based on survival.
There never was any talk of being safe, how to mature gracefully, what you could become instead of the constant negative talk. Help that came was far and few between and was chewed up and spitted out when it arrived.
Part of this unsaid message was that you would survive the trauma and in a healthy way with good help. That took a special person to bring the vision and the help and a fierce determination to not let the unsaid behaviors manage my life, no matter what it was.
I was given positive and workable tools. Tools that form part of my toolkit that help me look at the past with different lenses. Other tools support new behaviors, general information or environment checks (who is toxic, who is not.) A living toolkit that is in constant motion as tools are renewed, discarded or brought in.
I guess that is the point of my medicine walk.

this is interesting, Darcy, hearing how you found your way out, or through, your default survival mode of operating. I’m happy to hear that you learned how to have fun, whatever that means to you. Being light-hearted is good for us. An interesting read, thanks.