I No Longer Identify As A Trauma Survivor, An Identity Breakthrough

I no longer identify as a trauma survivor.

It’s a statement I’ve been thinking about all summer that lead to many complicated questions.

Am I betraying the trauma survivor community if I feel like I have moved on?

Am I still capable of educating others about trauma if I’m no longer in the muck?

Who am I, then, if I’m not a trauma survivor?

I’m Mary.

I’m just Mary.

And I just want to be known for the light I bring into the world rather than the darkness I spent decades in.

Isn’t this the point of healing trauma?

To purge the past of any leftover emotions needing to be felt so you can move forward with the compassionate wisdom you have for yourself and spread it to others.

This is post-traumatic growth, and I am loving this new era. It doesn’t mean I don’t feel adversity or pain; what it means is that I experience a broad spectrum of human emotions like a waterfall. It flows in me and out, uninterrupted, as my body was designed to do.

It means I have the agency to choose joy over and over again, even when faced with circumstances out of my control.

My body has a greater window of tolerance for navigating overwhelming experiences because of all the somatic therapy and training I have completed in the past 2 years.

I view challenges differently now.

I’m not a victim anymore.

I’m a warrior, fully aware of my power within my body.

I see myself from a bird’s eye point of view. I see this magical light all around me that shines brighter and brighter when I follow my heart's deepest desire.

Now I can move through life smiling brighter, singing louder, and dancing without a care in the world.

The past summer, I surrendered to the love I have for myself and cleared a path to my own life purpose of simply being free to do what makes me happy, safe, and at ease.

It’s taken my body years to get here. I’ve unblocked the trauma-filled obstacles within my nervous system and now channel my radiant authentic self.

It’s a beautiful feeling to be impulsively free in all areas of my life, and it’s led me to have the courage to do the following:

I wrote and pitched an essay to the Modern Love Column for New York Times about healing from childhood trauma and reuniting with my inner child.

I committed to being present with my dog as much as possible as she battles a fatal heart disease with an estimated of 6 months to live.

I hugged my best friends tighter every time I saw them.

I let my body melt every time I kissed my partner.

I got a job as a bartender at a non-alcoholic brewery to socialize with humans and be in a joy-filled, LOW-STAKES atmosphere. (FINALLY!)

I stepped away from business partnerships and collaborations that weren’t in alignment with my core values.

I put myself out there and asked out women on friend dates so I could slowly build a sisterhood in Chicago.

I’m moving at rapid speed, writing my book, Write & Release (apologies to those who have pre-ordered this, it’s coming, I promise).

I feel so much aliveness in my life.

I’ve entered the ultimate state of somatic presence, and I want to show you how to get here too.

Somatic coaching helps you release emotions and trauma from the body so you can regulate your nervous system and step into the life you want.

Learn more here.

These are 60-minute sessions that include trauma-informed somatic modalities, expressive art, and expressive writing (Somatic Experiencing, Somatic IFS, Meisner technique (acting technique), and storytelling).

Remember this as you move forward to a summer of love: Magic happens when you follow your light.

Sincerely,

Mary

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