My #metoo Story
My #metoo story. When I shared this originally, I also also used this same image.
I think it is a beautiful image of me, in one of my most favorite places in the world. That reason could be enough.
But why post a nearly-nude photo to bring attention to sexual assault and harassment?
Because I can. This is my body, my beauty and health, and it is gift I celebrate in my life, and I will not hide or live in fear. I earned this right to be brave.
When I was 4 Years old I was raped by my babysitter's older brother. He was 17.
Even as a child I knew he would have never done this to me if he was not in pain also. In my child's heart I could never hate him.
But I could be angry that this happened to me. And I was, I am.
And as I got older I learned even more ways that our society could limit me, judge me, sexualize and objectify me without my consent.
My body shut down even as I thrived in many other ways. I was lucky to live in a family that loved and respected me.
But I have lived with this trauma and numbness in my body for my whole life. And the anger...I used it to motivate me.
I became a warrior, a martial artist. I became a bad-ass business woman. No body ever fucked with me again.
But I also became emotionally defended, and my sensitive feminine body became deeply guarded.
After the last 8 years of finally deep-diving into healing this wound from the inside out, and the ancestral wound of sexual violence, I have learned so much about this road to wholeness.
I am not a victim. I am a strong, sensual woman and my body is my own to celebrate, to share, or not to share as I desire.
I may never be who I might have been without this trauma, but I am stronger and wiser. I am wholehearted. And I am a work in progress. I know I don’t have to do this alone, I have sisters and friends and people who have trained to support people like me.
This is why I have taken my healing path and the tools that have helped me, and offer them in service to others.
Don’t let anything or anyone limit your capacity for joy, healing and wholeness. It is possible to reclaim yourself, no matter what what has happened.
If I can do it, you can too.
