ach time I encounter the body’s ability to heal itself, I’m in awe. And to witness the role of intention in this is even more mind-boggling.
As domestic violence survivors, you know the scars and wounds of battering. Did you know you can have a very active role in healing these injuries?
I’m going to insert an earlier writing of mine in which I’m reflecting on a milestone in my own process dating back to 1988, because it says it from that battered place common to domestic abuse survivors. This piece is entitled “The Silver Lining, Laced with Gold.” Allow me.
The Silver Lining Laced with Gold
The ropes, pulleys and metal held my vertebrae ever so still in cervical traction. Nurses, doctors, police, social workers and clergy rumbling about, and me wondering how did I get here. A cervical spine injury brought me here, an injury resulting from a domestic abuse altercation over my intervening between a violent father and a wounded child. That’s how I got here. The question is where do I go from here?
My upper body so compromised I couldn’t lift a cup of tea, much less my arms over my head. The days were long and the pain was relentless, with shots of fire going down my arms day and night. After many months of physical therapy and this half-life in between, I yearned for a more expedient recovery and I longed to rid my mind of flashbacks.
Where was the space between the images of black and blue bruises across my baby’s face and the sounds of violent roars directed at me? “I’m going to break your neck…I’