A Letter to the Wounded (like Myself)

I know you’re wounded. I’m sure of this fact, in part, because I was pretty confident that I had made it to adulthood unscathed. 

The first red flag is always that you don’t have a “thing.”

Now, that’s not meant to be shameful. It’s just an attempt at acknowledging reality. I recently noticed that I am not exactly who I thought I was. I, Logan, have always identified as an easy going, happy-go-lucky, breezy person. It’s a wonderful identity to have — if it’s true. 

I kept noticing powerful disconfirming information that challenged this notion. I’m often anxious and angry. I didn’t perceive that I was an angry person, because I rarely was angry or resentful outwardly in the world. But, little moments here and there made me aware that I generally was living in that emotion. 

The happy-go-lucky, fun guy sure did a lot of isolating and harbored a ton of negative emotion for that to be the whole truth. I did a session with a new therapist to see more clearly under the hood and considered for the first time in my life that I have legitimate wounds that show up in my life today Monday through Sunday in big and small ways.

The insidious nature of wounds/trauma/whatever word you’d like to use is they often come with a built in shame component. The idea of me proclaiming that I’ve experienced trauma makes me want to gag as a white male born in America in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Well, there’s a cost to not allowing yourself to acknowledge these things. 

What an opportunity. 

What does this have to do with you, you ask? Well, we all have some opportunity to integrate our wounds (or suffer from them unnecessarily). This isn’t me throwing stones in a glass house, it’s just an invitation to a reality I’m facing that you’re likely facing, too. 

In my work so far, I’ve learned a bunch, but here’s something simple I’ll offer you to scratch the surface. Typically these wounds show up in one of the following flavors:

• I want to feel worthy. 

• I want to belong. 

• I want to be prioritized. 

• I want to trust. 

• I want to feel safe. 

Does yours stand out? I’m no therapist, but I do want to create a space where more walled up people, like myself, are open about their exploration of these important concepts.

I hope you’ll get curious about your journey, too.