The heavy but hopeful one
“Trauma isn’t just a bad memory that we can choose to forget, or a wound that heals naturally over time. It’s much more complex than that, affecting both the mind and the body in profound ways.”
— Dr. Tracey Marks, Psychiatrist
In this edition:
Forget a job, what’s your life’s work?
Boys are also victims of sexual exploitation
Trauma doesn’t just go away
IN MY WORDS
Solve a problem, don’t build a career
I recently came across an article on the skills in demand for the future; digital literacy, entrepreneurship basics and AI literacy. It reminded me of my decision to finish university later than my peers to gain more work experience.
SEO copywriting was a completely new skill to me and working at a content marketing agency showed me the future of writing as a career.
During the onboarding course, I realised nothing in my Journalism degree was preparing me for the digital economy. I decided learning directly from the business owners would be more useful than rushing to graduate.
Valuing experience over a degree can feel like deviating from society’s script but it’s better to base decisions on the most current information. I was already earning money as a writer so the idea that a degree is the only pathway to paid work was shattered.
The next thing was dispelling the myth that freelancing isn’t a noble profession and that I needed to get a “real job”. This is why developing a life philosophy that allows you to think for yourself is crucial.
I’ve always believed I exist to obliterate the world’s biggest challenges in my lifetime. For me, that means choosing work where I acquire the skills needed to create solutions to the problems I’m facing.
That’s why pursuing a management role mattered to me as I could improve the onboarding process and help other writers acquire this new profitable skill.
I’ve also chosen to work for startups to get comfortable with the pain of building from the ground up and scaling lasting solutions.
Dan Koe once said, “Self-development is a gateway drug into entrepreneurship because you realise that improving others is the next level of improving yourself.”
I’ve recently stumbled into entrepreneurship because it means doing work that allows me to leave the world better than I found it. That’s a better pursuit for me and the journey continues.
STUDY WITH ME
Building a strong mind & body
I’m tweaking my routine to help me manage adenomyosis and thrive as an entrepreneur. Both are extremely demanding pursuits and here are my go-to resources this week.
Watch: 5 Lessons I Learned from Four 200+ Mile Races in 5 Months!
Watch: If You Have Multiple Interests, Start This One-Person Business
Read: I Cope With My Lupus And Hashimoto's Symptoms Through Ultra-Running
RUNDOWN
Male vulnerability and sexual exploitation
The story
What happened?
ECPAT, an organisation committed to ending sexual exploitation, launched the Global Boys Initiative to:
Explore how they collectively address the sexual exploitation of boys;
Activate their global network of member organisations in a range of research;
Understand how to better provide response activities.
Why does it matter?
In a previous edition, we looked at the impact of social norms and interrogated the effectiveness of therapy on men.
ECPAT realised gender norms on male vulnerability prevent boys from seeking help so frontline workers can’t effectively adapt recovery services for them.
Their research projects across ten countries confirmed the ideas of masculinity behind the sexual exploitation and abuse of boys are a global issue that requires global solutions.
What can we do about it?
While we may feel helpless in the face of sexual exploitation, a lot of gender change work begins with self-interrogation.
How comfortable are you when other men openly express emotions? Do you believe that men too can be sexually exploited or should they be “smart enough” to avoid it?
We can hold space for the gendered experiences of all survivors so that we make equal progress in ending the problem.
We’re not free unless we’re all free.
TRIAGE
The anatomy of trauma
After diving into the complexities of sexual trauma it only makes sense to feel overwhelmed by empathy for others or reliving memories of your own.
In this video, Dr. Tracey Marks explains why it’s not simple to just forget about trauma. What may be traumatic for one person may not be for another based on:
Personal history
Support systems
Neurobiological resilience
Learn how trauma affects the mind and body and why neuroplasticity provides hope for rewiring the brain.
“We’re not free unless we’re all free” is a mantra I’ve lived by for years. It means for every problem in my vicinity, I am the right person to find the solution or mobilise others who can solve it.
It pains me to sit on the sidelines hoping for a change, praying for a cure. I want to get my hands dirty, do the work, no matter what.
What are you willing to fight for today?
WN