Deny anyone the ability to tear you down.
If you have been through hard shit, you have the absolute right to talk about it or write about it. YOU HAVE FULL RIGHT TO ADVOCATE FOR YOURSELF. Do not let anyone take that away because they did not see what you experienced, have no "proof" or even knew your abuser. Do not let your OWN FAMILY dismiss the hardships you have gone through or the abuse you have survived. Do not let friends or peers shame you for being open and honest with yourself and speaking your truths. Speaking my truths has saved my life. I began speaking up about the abuse when I was in 9th grade but it was not until early college that I got vocal and advocated. In college, I walked around campus PROUD of being a single, young mother. EVEN THOUGH IT WAS HARD AND SCARY. I got involved on campus and I started a club for parenting students. I spoke out in the student government association on campus as a female representative and made the change. THEY INSTALLED CHANGING TABLES IN THE PUBLIC BATHROOM OF THE ACTIVITIES CENTER BECAUSE OF ME SPEAKING UP. It was the first one ever installed!!!! I spoke out about my exs and my parents. About the manipulation and abuse I had endured. But speaking in person was not nearly as impactful as it is now getting up on Facebook + Instagram + Twitter to SPEAK MY TRUTHS. I am here to heal. And in the process, to dismantle the bullshit idea that we are all perfect and whole. I am broken, but still going on and doing it with a ROAR. The abusers in my life birthed and raised me. Soon after I was tossed between abusive lovers and friendships because that is what happens to abuse victims who do not get help. WHO DO NOT EVEN KNOW THEY ARE A TRAUMA SURVIVOR. This year, I am going to get LOUDER. I post pictures of the real me. And I write stories that are raw, harsh, detailed, uncomfortable, scary, sad, and empowering AF. It is empowering to finally say "I was raped". It is freeing to finally say "I was too young. I felt I had no choice." It is validation to finally testify to my own experiences and not have to line up defense like images of my bruises and dates or times I called the cops and filed a report. When I was 17, I sued my own parents for neglect and abuse. This was a year after they had abandoned me to a relative and changed the locks on the doors, with no court order or lawful decisions made. Which meant they continued to claim me in taxes and evade child support laws. They abandoned their only child who was a minor. In effect, they also hid their addictions and record of domestic disputes + abusive treatment of me. I ultimately "lost" the abuse charges because I had "no proof". Speaking my truths is no longer about proof. It is about growth. Awareness. TRUTHS that set OTHER victims free. Today I saw a post about a woman speaking her truths and sharing how abusive her childhood was. SOMEONE who knew the family commented SHAMING her and called her a spoiled brat / liar for the details she told. This person had never seen how abusive the parents were. So their comment was not only dismissive of the TRUTHS told YEARS LATER but did what most people do who are clueless about how abuse works. They defended the abuser. JADED SAVIOR REPRESENTS A WARRIOR OF TRUTHS AND JUSTICE. Being able to FINALLY speak up will set you free in body, mind, and spirit. The pain of being silent can kill. So think about that if you have a story untold. And think even harder about your actions if you are someone who as dismissed someone else in the past for their truths. I will never be able to prove my mom emotionally abused me. I cannot unsee what she did to me and around me. I will never be able to forget the taunting and attacks. I have nightmares still of me trying to escape her house. You now know the face of a victim. You are looking right at her. I do not share for pats or attention because "i need the glory" (yes, i have been told that). I share because empowerment comes from those who felt the most pain and rose up to do something about it. J.S. Jaded Savior
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There are a million reasons to leave a toxic situation behind.
But the number one reason for me is I no longer allow myself to participate in anything that does not bring me joy. I used to half believe it, through narrowed eyes, that life was not meant to always be enjoyed. "It is what it is", "that is life", "what did you expect?" were some of the phrases used to normalize abuse and neglect, gas lighting and infidelity. Idk, Frank. I expected people to not be pieces of shit. And I was some what right in my demand that the world be kind by default. It should be. And those who are unkind, have only been painted by trauma. Red hands and face, thinking the marker was permanent and not wanting to find a remedy, because #whybother. It became easier for people to just fit a racist, sexist or down right cruel agenda because it is what their families' perpetuated for generations. Toxic mainstreaming. Tradition. It became normal to look the other way when someone is in distress. It became typical to blame the victim when they had received some kind of abuse from a partner or even a stranger. Desensitization of trauma, that is what made the world cold. And gave perpetrators the okay to amp up abuse without fear of repercussions. In this world, we have gotten used to and even expected no repercussions. So even though we, adults, lecture incessantly the need to be kind and courteous --- that lesson is void not far down the line when someone awful gets done or witnessed. When will a real conversation be held around trauma? This black hole that no one knows how to stop but blindly perpetuate it everywhere. Between families, businesses, neighborly interactions ---> the conversation never gets held. We spend so much time on the tv dramas and who wore what dress to the Grammys. We program our kids to "not get involved in the affair of others" but simultaneously tell them kindness is king. It is not kind to turn a cheek when a friend gets coerced into drinking and led into a bedroom without either party having to consider the not "fine line" between rape and consent. It is not kind to hear about a kid at home with an alcoholic father and fearful mother, just to say "well they are adults and there is nothing we can really do about it". It is not kind to say a girl must know what she got herself into when she is beat up and bullied by her partner constantly. When the conversation gets had, it is always the wrong one. We spend all the time saying "what now?" This society struggles with toxic behaviors because on a global level, we NEVER uphold boundaries. Heck, we mostly don't even talk about them. Not loud enough. Not as a standard. "To each their own" should never be associated with abuse. When one hurts, we should all hurt. Because this is a global issue. The blind eye to corruption. The continual perpetuation of immoral misconduct and emotional abuse between partnerships. Parent and child. Romantic partners. Friends. Business associates. Customer and company. Toxic behaviors and enabling abuse can be found everywhere. It would not be "profitable" to work on a cure. For suffering. For mental illness. For disease. For social issues. For discriminating and bullying between races and cultures and religions. It would not pay a pocket to serve with love. Ever notice how when someone says "I do this for joy" people roll their eyes and say "so your struggling, huh?" An artist or creative MUST be starving and struggling. Because we do not pay well to the inventors, the creators, the teachers. We only pay the progressives and the healers in ridicule. While the cold and greedy laugh. Spinning the wheel. I demand in my lifetime that truths be shared and people link together. Arm in arm, ready to not be ok with the world being seen as a dark place. We should think it is really fucked up to dismiss the world for being cruel. For dismissing the leaders of our nations to be bigots or psychopaths, dictators, or bullies. We should think it is a really ridiculous and irrational thing to teach OUR CHILDREN that perps deserve more protection UNDER THE LAW THAN VICTIMS DO. I never ever want to turn to my kid and say, "well, were you wearing a skirt?" "But did you even try to stop it?" "Is there any substantial proof other than your alleged honesty?" Instead, we will be holding conversations like "this is what a healthy relationship looks like." , "this is abuse looks like" , "this is the result of doing things without passion and joy", "this is why we set boundaries", "this is where we draw the line." I am proud to draw the line OUT LOUD. I know which side of it I stand on. Do you? Let's change the face of life to a happy one and do things that lead us with love. Let love be the default. Let understand and compassion be the compass. Let life be all about embracing healthy and happy. Let's make it really fucking clear for the people in the back that healthy means upholding safety, respect, honor, loyalty, courage and JOY. Let's make our reason to LEAVE abuse be that it should never even happen at all. J.S. Jaded Savior |
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