RECOVERERS
There they sit, lookin’ all ordinary,
these stalwart and scarred journeyers and heroes
“I’ve done a lot of work.”
They say,
with serene gravity and athletic peace,
a lightness threads delicately through their voices and demeanor.
“Here I am. As me…”
A hard won battle, with lots of external scaffolding and support
yet pure, alone and complete — in important ways,
Discovering (and having discovered) True Self & Love,
love,
love.
Here. Existing.
Solid as mother rock; and at the same time dancing on air, high as soaring hawk.
Forever free ~
and,
both/and …
secure, rooted into richness.
Sensitivity Statement: The goal of this post is to provide space for calm discussion and highly aware, constructive examination of difficult subjects including humans’ extraordinary ability to recover and heal. As such it will cover some material that some readers might find difficult. [child sexual abuse, sexual abuse, SRA, abuse]
I watched some interviews with survivors of child sexual abuse on the, “Handing the Shame Back” YouTube channel with Gloria Masters (a survivor and a thriver herself, of SRA and of other prolonged abuse). And I just read most of this long article posted today, March 22, 2026 by Max Dashu on Substack about the systemic sexual abuses (combined of course with spiritual abuse) of nuns and other women in the Catholic church by priests, going way back in time.
And it got me thinking. Yes, it’s essential at this point in history to bring all of these abuses (including those in the Epstein files and in Cesar Chavez’ actions) to light and to pursue increasing accountability. But also, it’s all been going on for so long and it still is. And no one listened and many still aren’t. So, these harmed-and-strong and weak-and-determined people (so many of us) can’t and didn’t wait for people to believe us, or for formal justice to be done.
Instead, we sought healing wherever we could. And found it. And continue to find it. There is more trauma recovery help now, to be found all the time. But I think it’s also *always been there* — in an existential way; but also always amongst the searching-for-truth human populations. I especially loved this conversation between Monica Lewinsky and Tarana Burke on Lewinsky’s podcast, “Reclaiming.” Two amazing (ordinary!) women who have endured not only power differentials and related abuse, but also subsequent societal abuse and vilification (victim blaming).
Although I agree that maybe re-naming many schools, etc. after Dolores Huerta might be a good idea, I also balk at the continued reverence for celebrity that perpetuates harmful hierarchies in our society. I also resist hatred as a way of life. Humans are all human, and capable of choosing to pursue healing and change. If we leave out that opportunity or possibility, we’re shooting ourselves in the foot. In the hate wars, everybody loses.
We do not focus nearly enough on the monumental courage, strength, bravery, persistence, and creativity of those many “unknown” individuals who have dared to doggedly and wearily pursue healing. While encountering tremendous and constant pain, along with almost unbelievable (miraculous, regenerative) rewards along the way.
The enduring pursuit of this and the magnificent, hard won effects of healing and recovery are not given nearly enough attention or time.
So here’s my contribution, this post (and this work).
If we focus more on this, we’ll see a ripple effect of conspicuous regenerative changes in our society.
And we are seeing that happening in our world… 💙
