The Other Side

A few years ago, I was at the airport when I felt a tap on the shoulder.

I turned around and saw it was someone I’d worked with in my domestic violence advocacy role.

When she first came to see me months earlier, she knew she needed help + support but didn’t know where to start. She’d been married for years, felt trapped, and couldn’t see a path forward.

And as in often the case in situations like these, years of abusive behavior, gaslighting, and trauma had left her feeling ungrounded + disconnected from her knowing, power, and intuition.

I worked with her on sorting through the logistics, creating a plan to leave safely, and connecting her with legal resources + trauma therapy.

And here she was a few months since we'd last spoken, beaming at me, looking radiant, happy, and confident, working for the airline I was flying that day.

Working at a job that gave her access to freedom + literal flight.

Her whole being radiated the liberation she found + fought for + created for herself.

I’ve had some hard moments + seen some really horrific stuff in my DV work, but then there are moments like this -- when I'm able to witness firsthand the healing on the other side -- moments when I’m reminded that healing + freedom are possible for all of us.

Moments when I'm reminded that humans are capable of extraordinary things.

And that there’s so much possibility in the world -- and so much power + magic inside each one of us.