An alternative definition of trauma.

Over the years, coming from my own understanding and own trauma, I have formulated an alternative definition of trauma.  A definition that works for me and hopefully encompasses all the different aspect of it. Trauma runs up and down a continuum, from low grade to intense, but the mechanism is the same. Trauma happens whenever we have an understanding or an idea of how a situation should/could unfold and we are emotionally invested in the outcome. This could be anything from the nature of the traffic to the office in the morning, to the lifespan of a loved one. With one million iterations of expectations in between.  Trauma happens when I think I know how the day will unfold and suddenly it doesn't go the way I thought. Trauma can be measured from disappointment through to devastation, from irritation all the way to absolute hopelessness and powerlessness. It is when something happened that should not have happened.

Someone will have to tell the story

Someone will have to tell the story. It has been carried for so long in the hearts and minds of so many people. It is the story of a lost tribe. A tribe that has been scattered all over the world. They have been wondering in the cities of the world, they have been living in sky rises and suburbia, in squatter camps and the projects. They are stuck on high ways, on trains, in airport terminals and in aeroplanes. They are in hospitals, in institutions, the work in corporate or on the mines. They sweep the street and lay the cables, They drive the busses and they remove the garbage.  They take their kids to school, they work to get an education. They work to get an increase or a promotion. They work for a salary, they worry about the next payment into the account. They work to pay the mortgage, to pay the pension to pay the medical aid. They worry about their children, their health, and the state of the nation. They worry about the weather, the crime, war and natural disasters. They run away from dying. They live in constant fear of losing a loved one.  They live in constant fear. They run away to holidays in foreign countries, to go to the seaside, they walk in the mountains, they swim in the sea, in frozen rivers, they do extreme things always for the next adrenalin rush. They go to church, they don’t go to church. They read extensively every book they can find, they do research on the internet. They talk to friends, to their partners to the pastor and to their therapist. They are looking for a guru, they are looking for a saviour. They gamble, they drink too much, they use drugs illegally and over the counter, they eat their pain away. They fall in love, they fall out of love, they get married and divorce. They find love on the internet and they find love on the street. They abuse their partners, their children their parents. They run away from their abusers. They steel, they murder and they commit unspeakable crimes. They get involved in corruption and they play to win the lotto. They abuse themselves, they abuse the world. They neglect themselves, they neglect each other, they neglect the world. They send their children overseas to find a better life, they hate being here because they missed a better life. This tribe has been lost for so long, they can’t remember that they have ever belonged.
And every day they search for something better, something more, something else, to understand, to find meaning, to love, to forget. For someone to come and save them, for something to happen to change them.