Your Journey to Healing Begins
As someone who has bravely faced my own shadows of trauma and shame, I am inspired by the empowering message shared in Josh’s blog post. It is a reminder that healing is not only possible but also a beautiful and transformative journey that we are all capable of embarking on.
The notion that humans are inherently meant to create beauty and goodness in the world has always filled me with a sense of purpose and optimism. Despite the challenges of trauma, I am reminded that my ability to create beauty is not diminished but rather waiting to be rediscovered and nurtured.
Above all, the reminder to find a safe and supportive community that will walk alongside me on my healing journey fills me with hope and gratitude. Knowing that I am not alone, and that my story is valid and valuable, gives me the courage to continue sharing and evolving, knowing that each step I take brings me closer to healing and wholeness. And as Stan aways reminded me, “This too shall pass.”
– Nate Deen
Hello subscribers!
I am privileged to be writing the first of many blog posts that we have planned. Stan Deen Foundation’s intention is to make new content every month that will surround the topics of healing, activism, advocacy, and opening up discussion on topics that youth encounter regularly.
One of the main questions our foundation has been asked early-on by people who have watched the movie, Brave the Dark, has been, “How can I heal from my past?” Everyone approaches this question with different perspectives. Some have encountered traumatic events as a single occurrence; some live in an environment of continuous trauma; some don’t have the resources to pursue counseling and some do; some families can be affected by a painful event; some families can cause reoccurring pain. Regardless, healing begins with an acknowledgment that the pain exists and a willingness to address it.
Please note that I am not a psychiatric professional, but simply someone who has had to face his own trauma. Numerous ways to heal from shame and trauma are available; the following paraphrased points for healing have been inspired by psychiatrist Curt Thompson, MD, as laid out in his book The Soul of Desire:
- Realities to consider:
- Humans are meant to create beauty and goodness in the world. This mission is stunted when shame and trauma enter the picture and are not dealt with.
- We as humans long to know and be known by others. Everyone inherently yearns to be safe, seen, soothed, and secure. Those four “S’s” are the tenets of secure attachment, as suggested by psychiatry professor, Dan Siegel.
- Grief, a fact of living in this world, inhibits our ability to see and create beauty.
- Your life is not a problem to be fixed. Be curious about how your experiences can create beauty, as you heal from shame and trauma.
- Humans are storytellers. Not just some – all of us. We need to share our stories with each other in order to be known. That means sharing, within the confines of a safe space, the areas of our lives we don’t always feel comfortable acknowledging.
- Life is hard. Creating beauty doesn’t happen overnight and it certainly does not happen without perseverance.
- Actions to take:
- We need to “dwell” with our trauma without distraction and without the coping mechanisms that we formed long ago to protect ourselves. This means learning new tools first from a professional to know what to observe as we dwell.
- We can then “inquire”, becoming curious about the beauty hidden within our past experiences. A few questions to consider while inquiring:
- How do we include beauty in our job or lifestyle? How can we add beauty to our life?
- How or why does the beauty we see resonate with us based on our life experience?
These are a few points that can help you develop your own story. The finished product witnessed when watching Brave the Dark was over a decade long journey for Nate, which included pain, vulnerability, and being able to find redemption and beauty in his own story. But your story doesn’t need to be on the big screen or in a book to be valid. Find a safe community that will cherish and walk alongside you as your story continues to evolve.
Enjoy discovering your story,
Joshua Graber
President of the Stan Deen Foundation
Posted 05/01/2025