I want to share an awakening I experienced today, during a podcast I listen to regularly. The podcast showcases the author of several books I have, and it’s called “Metta Hour Podcast” by Sharon Salzberg. I like listening to podcasts while I perform my lab work, because I can passively absorb and retain information, while I get some work done. I also listen to music, but I treat podcasts like free therapy sessions. Lol! You gotta’ do what you gotta’ do, right? So, Salsberg is hosting renowned neuroscientist Dr. Sara’ King, and they begin discussion of the stigma surrounding healing. They’re not simply referring to the overt stigma found in mental health, and mental healthcare in general, but they are specifically pinpointing the effort to address this mental health. I was stunned at how accurate it was. Unfortunately, social media is a breeding ground for this stigma, along with lack of education and resources but I have never heard this said aloud. I have thought about it, observing people police themselves and others. I think it is vital to bring awareness to how immensely necessary it is for all of us to determine our own best practice for healthy habits, and healing all together.
There are several systems at work that formulate our relationship with healing, and for many of us, much of it is related to our immediate/collective environment. I do not believe it is solely a matter of preference in how we heal, but more so a response to healing in general. The human condition is a synergistic collection of physical (our bodies), psychological (our minds), and physiological (the nervous system) interconnected systems working, simultaneously in complex ways. Just think of each and every human being on the planet? To assume each of us have systems that are built the same seems unreasonable. Many of us have not observed healing in action, so why are we expecting ourselves to be mindful of it? How do we know what it looks like? This journey requires an open mind and education, because it is a futile endeavor, unless one starts from the problem. Thus, it requires us to be authentic with ourselves in admitting and identifying the problem.
One problem seems to be that we as a society invest more energy in projecting a reality we create, and attach it to others as an explanation for what we think we know, in place of what we really do not know. Okay, that was a mouthful. Let me unpack it. Have you ever heard the saying, “You don’t know what you don’t know?” Well, this is the foundation of my deep-dive. I know there is no way I am informed of realities, ideas, and experiences I have not been exposed to yet, so any responses to those occurrences are yet to be considered. Just learning to be okay with our un-comfortability is a rarity, yet we often speak of resilience as an achievement or accomplishment, when in fact it is a byproduct of struggle. Thus, it is counterproductive to stigmatize healing in any form, due the nature of resiliency and how one obtains it. Healing is resilience, but it is mindful resilience. If/when someone is on a journey of healing, they are the resilience we speak of, as it is the conscientiousness of personal growth that one is considering, while making the attempt. Systems have conditioned us to buck at the understanding and compassion needed for allowing the room to heal, allowing human beings to be human. As a cohesive society, we would serve ourselves better by keeping in mind that none of us have the blueprint, we are building this thing called life as we go. Healing means forgiving yourself for not being born with the blueprint, offering others that same Grace so they can move on through their healing, and allowing that Grace you mustered to offer another heal you along with them.
Leave a Reply