“The trauma said, ‘Don’t write these poems. Nobody wants to hear you cry about the grief inside your bones.” – Andrea Gibson
It took me way too long to realize that I had been through traumatic events in my life. It took a professional-looking me in the eyes and telling me that what I have been through was traumatic and difficult for me to realize it.
I am here to let you know that trauma is not defined by how big an event is. Trauma is not something you can define, it is something your brain does for you. Something happens and you can’t control how it gets processed.
You cannot fight trauma or a diagnosis by ignoring it, you have to accept it and learn how to express it.
Trauma is not a one size fits all situation. Just because your trauma is not the same as another person’s does not make it less valid. It is not a one size fits all, it is different for each individual.
It can be easy to not accept trauma or PTSD if you believe you had a ‘normal’ childhood. Even if you believe your bad experiences do not warrant the word trauma your brain may think differently.
I am just now learning how to be open with my experiences and freely sharing them. It is a powerful thing to allow yourself to share, it also makes others around your more comfortable sharing what they have been through. It leads to nothing but good things. Trauma doesn’t have to be big to be traumatic.