You Can Trust the Truth Of Your Experience

(This post was written in response to political events in the US as of September 2018, when Christine Blasey Ford was called to testify in Congress to protest the selection of Judicial nominee Brett Kavanaugh.)

Yes–You can trust the truth of your experience. Until those of us who have endured physical/ sexual assault or emotional abuse can name that truth in safety, none of us will be free. I am called to stand up and speak out about current political events.

Not all of us are Christine Blasey Ford and ask that our voice be heard by a US judicial committee. She is speaking the truth of her experience. She is speaking truth to power. She dares to question the character of a person who is a heartbeat away from taking a seat on the highest court in this country.

Most of us (men and women) that have suffered physical/sexual assaults are shamed, marginalized, silenced, have compromised immune systems, chronic pain, and at times are pushed to madness: pushed to madness because those who wield power in our moment of greatest vulnerability and shock, threaten our need to belong, our need for safety, our need to be seen and heard.

What I’ve experienced and witnessed in others, is how we internalize oppression to belong and stay safe.

What we frequently don’t realize is there’s nothing “safe” about denying our experience. There is nothing “safe” about living as an emotional amputee. There is nothing “safe” about being in a body we don’t trust. There is nothing “safe” about being instinct wounded.

We are more vulnerable to repetitive cycles of abuse when we do not realize the importance of naming the truth of our experience.

Often our mind alone cannot grasp what our body knows: Our felt sense is trustworthy. Our embodied voice must be heard in safety, respect, mercy, and love. Standing in the truth of our experience is one of the most powerful actions we will ever take on our own behalf and for the love of this world.