Healing Voices on the Way to Re-discovery
There is a voice out there for everyone. Someone who is a source of inspiration and hope exists for you. Someone who gets you through tricky times by showing you what it means to persevere, be brave, and be there for people less fortunate and needing help. That person could be a close friend, an artist, a character in a film or book, a teacher, an activist, or a singer…… it could be anyone, so long as they can express what you're experiencing and set an example that moves you.
It is illuminating for someone to name what our heart knows but struggles to admit. It is empowering for someone to rise above their circumstances and show up in the world the way we wish to. How comforting it is to know someone in the world understands something of our struggle. People who bring about these experiences are the heroes of our lives. I define a hero as someone who lives out our deepest longings and desires. I see a hero as someone who helps us garner strength and resilience in the face of hardship.
In my stories on Instagram, I recently shared that one of my heroes is Mariah Carey. We all know Mariah to be one of the best singers in the world, but that's not the only reason she inspires awe in me — it's the stories she tells with her songs. When I was a pre-teen, her lyrics gave voice to what I was too young to know how to express (specifically in her Rainbow and Glitter albums). Having someone portray my feelings was so validating for me and helped me not feel so alone at that time. Seeing her overcome many challenges and get to where she has gotten to showed me it was possible, encouraging me to keep going. It shows just how powerful and healing other people's stories can be.
My heroes nowadays are my clients. I am ever in awe over how they show up for themselves week after week, forgetting and remembering themselves and their 'why' over and over again. I am deeply moved by their courage to keep going in the darkest of times. When I see them get to the point where they recognise their worthiness and inherent goodness, not just through cognitive understanding, but from a deep, experiential inner knowing, I am reminded just how precious and meaningful this human life is. What a gift.
Here's the most amazing thing about heroes: I've come to believe that they are reflections of the qualities that we ourselves possess. My therapist recently shared a quote that says this perfectly, 'The (type of) person you wish you were is who you really are, but haven't yet learned to be' (Parks, p. 160). I believe our heroes pave the way for us to recognise and live out our full Self. In the words of Mariah Carey,
'There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are
There's an answer
If you reach into your soul
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away.'
I invite you to reflect on the heroes in your life. What qualities do they possess? How do they move through the world? What about them awes and inspires you? Now, consider that all the qualities and ways of being they demonstrate are within you, too.
I leave you with some food for thought: Could it be that you are not any less than the heroes that you admire(d)? What if the beliefs that you are not like them are the 'villains' here? What if these healing voices are reminders of your path to rediscovering your wholeness? How are you already being your own hero right now??
Keep looking for that hero in you, for you.
Warmly,
Sarah
Quote source: Counsellor's Guide to Park's Inner Child Therapy by Penny Parks (p.160).
Lyrics source: Mariah Carey from the song 'Hero'
