Into the Light

Light can be scary. It’s revealing. It’s truth-enforcing. There’s no place to hide.

When we start talking about our stories for the first time, it can feel that we’re utterly exposed. If we take the proverbial skeleton out of the closet, will we ever be able to lock it back in? We fear becoming overwhelmed by the enormity of the truth. We fear judgement. And questions. And accusations. What does our story truly say about us? We think it’s best to keep it in the dark. That’s where we believe it’s safest.

The darkness may have even become our place of comfort. It’s familiar. It’s known. But it’s also the place where the hurt and the trauma can continue to fester and grow. The hurt or trauma multiplies and thrives in the darkness. It compounds and can grow out of control. But, there’s hope. We don’t have to stay stuck in the darkness.

We have to acknowledge the depth of the darkness to strip it of its power. 

Just to be clear: bringing your story into the light doesn’t necessarily mean you start plastering it all over social media. That first step into the light may just mean telling your therapist or a trusted friend. Or maybe it’s even just admitting the truth to yourself. I can’t tell you how many women I’ve been working with for months, or even years, before their full story comes into the light.

I get it. I do. Zero judgement here. It was years before I told my own therapist a few key parts of my own story. The shame was so heavy it had kept it in the dark for decades. I thought I had dealt with those parts of my story. But, in reality, I’d only used different verbiage to tell my story in order to make it more palatable. I hadn’t even been truthful in the narrative I was telling myself because I feared it would overtake me. I was fearful about what my story said about my identity and who I was.

But the truth? No story, no matter how traumatic or grotesque or seemingly unbearable can change your identity as a Daughter of the King. None. Zilch. Nothing is outside of His redemptive grasp.

So, how do we start walking the path to share our story? What’s the answer? One of the first steps is to bring the darkness into the light.

The light? It’s new. It’s unfamiliar. It’s revealing. It feels scary.

But, when we bring something into the light, it takes on a new form, a new look. Light has the power to heal. Darkness does not.

Sister, what have you been hiding in the dark? What needs to be brought out into the glorious light?

Be free,

Lani