Death by Paper Cut

November 3, 2020

This morning I listened to Episode 63 of the Myths That Make Us podcast. Some great stuff there! Here are just a couple of the many great quotes:

“Reclaim the real estate of intimacy.”

“I like to describe developmental trauma as death by papercut. It’s not the one time my mom or my dad gave me that look. It’s the ten thousand times. And that in those ten thousand times I started to shape and breathe and hold my body in a shape full of tension that requires energetic requirements, caloric reality, to hold that shape. And then as I develop, I think I am that shape.”

Wow, just wow. Oh my gosh, so true for me. The set of my mom’s jaw… the cluck of my dad’s tongue and wag of his head… those ten thousand times told me that I needed to shape and hold my being in a way that was above reproach, perfect, rigid, undemonstrative, silent. I’d like to think I’m ready to give my body the permission it needs to release, to take its natural form, to be effortless, and just… damn well be. Because I want to grant you that permission too.

Take a listen to the podcast and write your take in the comments below. I’m eager to hear about any somatic therapy experiences you may have had as well.