SHE
She struggled and lost so much,
overcame everything they said she wouldn’t.
She stumbled down a brutal road,
healed in places they swore she shouldn’t.
She fought battles no one saw coming,
braved storms they said she couldn’t.
She rose from the ashes of everything they broke,
and became what they swore she wouldn’t.
She is unyielding.
She is still standing.
She is stronger than they ever imagined.
She is me.
I stepped through shadows, heavy with silent pain. I carried wounds no one could see, fears that whispered my name. I crossed the threshold anyway. Left behind the version of me that learned to shrink, to stay, to break. Now the light is mine. I am not the scar, I am the healing.
Set Free
Ripping through her chest —
anxiety and regret.
Urgency pounding.
Secrets she’s kept.
Time to speak.
Bound by threats,
caught between darkness and peace.
Shadowed by doubt —
this is her fight.
The truth finally spoken.
Alone.
Scars of vulnerability,
taking back what’s hers.
Trauma bleeds,
seeping into every part of her.
Her demons finally set free.
She’s shedding shame,
letting go of his game.
Speaking her truth —
she is finally free
from the identity of pain.
Who is she now?
A mystery.
But it’s about to get good —
and that’s the scariest part
when you’ve never known what “good” feels like.
THE CHILD WITHIN REMEMBERS
Hiding as a form of protection.
Protection from a current threat or from an experience once lived. The body remembers, sending one back to that time, that place, and that response — not fully knowing that the threat no longer exists.
A response, a behavior learned as a young child who is trying to survive. She’s protecting herself from what she once knew to be harmful, unsafe, and unwanted. The child within remembers. She remembers the pain, the suffering, and at times returns to that state — shutting down, disconnecting, scared. All she is trying to do now is protect herself from reliving that trauma.
She remembers the threat and what it felt like as a young girl, so she goes into hiding. Silencing her voice. Freezing, numbing out, and releasing herself from an unimaginable past.
Triggered by the slightest tone, eye contact, and phrase… or worse yet, by love and attention. Which is what she has longed for, for so long. Love, connection, and being seen — sending her into hiding, uncovering what she has hidden from herself and others for protection.
She goes inward to the little girl that survived. A little girl who is scared, angry, resentful, and uncertain of how to love and how to trust. The little girl who has held onto so much to protect herself and others is now given the freedom to release, express, and begin to know the little girl who blesses life with joy, happiness, laughter, and love.
Who speaks clearly, is heard, and seen. Who no longer hides and instead shines brightly and radiantly.
This little girl is beginning to come out of hiding in darkness, entering and filling with light. Surrounded by love allows her to practice receiving and offering love. She feels a sense of relief, less tension held in her body. Beginning to speak her truth where before she was scared and frozen to speak her words.
This little girl who was once trapped in hiding allows herself to emerge and be seen. Learning how to connect, love, and speak her truth. She ebbs and flows through this journey as she discovers her triggers, moves through the uncomfortable, and acknowledges the hurt, pain, and suffering she once experienced.
Discovering that she no longer has to feel and be a victim. She begins to believe she too gets to be safe, free, and loved.
