Deeper Bruising

Some of the first bruises I received from the fall have faded. As I mentioned last night, other bruises are beginning to surface. The deeper the injury, the longer it takes for the bruise. It's possible I could still have some more show up in certain areas.

If you ever have to explain PTSD or emotional trauma or emotional triggers to someone, I think bruises are an apt analogy. Sometimes things happen to us and it hurts. We get mad or we cry or whatever you happened to do, but, because it was fairly much on the surface of our reality, the pain goes away quickly.

Other things hurt us on a deeper level. The rock the very foundation of who we are. Like bruises that surface from deep injury, this kind of trauma may take a while to appear. Once it's there, it's possible it may not go away. It just depends on the kind of resources we have for healing.

If someone is injured physically, you would never think to complain because some of their bruises didn't show up for a week. You'd never say, "That happened seven days ago! Why are you just bruising now?" So if we can accept that sometimes the manifestation of a physical injury takes a while to appear, why can't we accept that sometimes the same is true for mental or emotional trauma?

And yet, how often do you hear, or even think or say, "That person died two years ago, why are you crying now?" "That abusive relationship was ten years ago, why can't you trust people now?"

Why would we possibly assume that the things that hurt us emotionally are superficial? Especially when we've experienced these things that know how it can be for us?

I will admit, I'm just as guilty of this as anyone. As you know from reading the blog, I'm not really good with other people's emotions. I really don't have much patience for them (with a few exceptions) and tend to not want to be involved. That's something I'm trying to work on, though, it's always kind of a tightrope because many people have no idea that ranting is best left to therapists. Even still, I need to recognize that sometimes people's trauma is very deep. I need to accept their bruises and understand it, because I certainly have plenty of my own.