I was thinking about trauma yesterday. I once read that betrayal is a kind of trauma, with post traumatic stress symptoms. Sure enough, when I first came to Virginia, after finding out a few days before that my then-husband had been having an affair for the previous year and a half – I was troubled with flashbacks and obsessive thoughts and dreams. If I went 20 minutes without thinking about it, I felt like I’d accomplished something.
That was 2006. It took years, but I really did heal. I don’t know how many years it’s been since I dreamed about him.
Now, maybe I’m tempting fate to declare myself healed. Things can come up and take me by surprise still. Even thinking about trauma got me thinking about it. But – trust me – I am worlds better than I was then! When I felt like my life was in shambles and how could I ever think clearly again?
Hooray for healing!