Last week I was reminded of this saying; ‘teach from your scars, not your wounds’ and I’ve been thinking about that ever since. And with Joe Biden becoming President Elect over the weekend the saying has resonated with me even more. Joe Biden has known and grown from personal tragedy, he leads from his scars and from what we have seen so far, his scars underpin his leadership. Of course it would be naive to assume that Joe Biden or Kamala Harris are the solutions to the ills of America or the hate the current President has given permission for, but its a step in the right direction no?
While I’m talking about the Election I have to honour the local people who knocked doors and recognise this Election was won by grass roots action. For months, years even, grass roots activists have been going into local communities and explaining why every single votes counts (yeah I think everyone thought Trump already knew this), regardless of how you vote. This work was long and slow but it paid off, the Election had the largest number of votes for any American Election, more than the land-side number of votes for Obama 2008.
So I guess I’m thinking that small slow progress is good progress, even if it doesn’t feel that way at this time. And more importantly having the confidence to teach from what we know, have lived experience of, and have healed from, rather than what we put theory behind is powerful and authentic stuff. And this is exciting stuff too. I was thinking about those scars, Joe’s scars, my scars, your scars and how for some of us scars become the bedrock of our creative output, they influence what we write and paint. They drive our moral compass and our politics. Our once raw wounds of pain become healed scars and gifts that we can share.
Once wounds have healed they become powerful opportunities, not weak points, as in as the scar on your skin isn’t thinner, its thicker, tougher and more able to cope, that scar also tells a story only the owner has permission to tell. Scars may make us feel vulnerable but they are who we are, and when we embrace them, when we lead and teach from them we harness a mastery we didn’t have before.
We should remember that too many scars are too big a burden to carry for one person, one community, one country to carry and even though skin may look healed, glowing even, scars can still be open and weeping. When we see weeping wounds we must be kind and compassionate and use our strength to bring about the healing that needs to take place and equally important, ensure that person, community and country is never faced with that harmful situation again.
But for today, while I’m feeling joyful, lets hear it for the scars and the strength of creativity and personal storytelling they enable the owner of them to share.
Let’s hear it for the scars and offer a safe space to heal them ✌🏾