Sharing Writing that Scares You
Dear Steemit,
I'm not messing around today. I shared two of my most heartfelt pieces from the last few years of public writing. The first is about what it's like to be the child of a mother who keeps you with your abusive parent. The second is on what it was like for me to be Muslim in America post 9/11.
Neither of these were easy for me to share the first times I published them. They are also not easy to share today.
Why?
Writing about survival is an act of survival. It is vulnerable work, often raw and in need of refining which means that in the writing, I am forced to witness myself. Witnessing can be hard. But witnessing is more than beautiful; it's necessary.
Being seen is a validation of our experiences. Writing and sharing makes the invisible visible. If I did not tell you I suffered physical abuse, or sexual and racial violence, you would not know. Without knowing this about me, you can't fully understand me. We can't be close. We can't truly connect.
Sharing these pieces today (and writing this one) is my submission on COURAGE for our #PromptParty. I hope you've done some work with courage. It's not too late! Check out the original post here.
I'll be gathering links for a post tomorrow and share next week's Lightbearer.
With love,
Shawna
image from pixabay.com
Standing in support of your courage! <3
Well done!
It's interesting how courage takes many shapes... but often we overlook those acts of courage that don't involve jumping in a freezing river or running into a burning building to save someone's life.
And yet? Sometimes the courage needed to conduct strict self-inquiry into those scary parts of our psyches and souls is sometimes greater; they are that much more personal...
Off to read your other pieces.
Congratulations @shawnamawna! You have completed some achievement on Steemit and have been rewarded with new badge(s) :
Click on any badge to view your own Board of Honor on SteemitBoard.
For more information about SteemitBoard, click here
If you no longer want to receive notifications, reply to this comment with the word
STOP