By Wendy J Olson, Founder + Executive Director of Grit Plus Gumption
During the month of March, Grit Plus Gumption is hosting an awareness and fundraising campaign called Free To Be. We’re asking people who your healing would allow you to be free to be. And it’s got me thinking…who I am now that I’m not dealing with my trauma on the daily?
Trauma healing has been a long, hard road for me. I feel like I’ve been in therapy for a LONG time, and I don’t see that changing anytime soon. I may not be doing EMDR every week, but I can’t live without talking to my therapist at least once a month. Usually more.
As one of my therapists used to say, ‘Your trauma is very complex, Wendy.’ To which I would respond, ‘I feel like you’re trying to tell me something…’ I deflect with sarcasm if you can’t tell.
Complex trauma is different in that it has been insidious, like a slow drip over a long period of time. And mine spanned decades. Still, I chose to walk the arduous road of healing in 2018 and I didn’t look back. I knew I had somewhere to go, and I was tired of staying where I was.
Near the end of my last EMDR journey, my therapist asked me if I was finding out who I was underneath, without all the trauma. I started crying. I didn’t know. And honestly, I was scared to find out. What if I didn’t like her? What if she was lame? Or God forbid, NOT funny anymore!??
Finding yourself on the other side can be really scary, and yet it can also be very freeing. I didn’t know who I was until I found the freedom and healing that was there for me. And now, I have to say I like her more.
She’s adventurous. She’s a wanderer. She sees more, feels more, talks more, communicates better. Or at least she tries. And guess what? She’s still funny. Dare I say, funnier.
Who am I Free to Be? Let’s find out. Together.
Sign up to help us raise funding for our Spring Retreat this month, and share with us who YOU are Free to Be because of your healing journey. Be sure to follow us on social media as we like and share all your posts in our Stories!
Let’s be Free, and show others there IS hope.
Wendy J Olson is the Founder and Executive Director of Grit Plus Gumption Farmstead, a 501c3 nonprofit. She also works as a healing coach, facilitating the Allender Center modality of Story Work, (Narrative Focused Trauma Care. ) She walks with women through their stories of past hurts and traumas, guiding them to freedom and healing.