as we heal from the wounds
that have so long defined us
as we move from the patterns
that we have clung to & lived with
we can accept ourselves
with much deeper compassion
we can learn to forgive
all that we have resented
we will move with the fluidity
that is our true nature
we will start to love all of it
as our own creation
you can i can we can
have a good future
the following is a speech i gave on friday to a group of 25 students in my speaking with confidence elective.
.
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What I want to talk to you about today is an issue that has been close to the core of my reality for a very long time. It is one that I have been drawn to in media reports and in all honestly has occupied so much space in my mind that I have at times questioned my own sanity. It also happens to be a topic that no one really wants to talk about.
My name is Bryant and I experienced sexual abuse over a three year period between the ages of 6 and 9.
I do not see myself as either a victim of or as survivor of sexual abuse, but simply as one who has experienced it, all the while being acutely aware of its impact and how it has shaped the reality I have experienced.
I could talk for the next hour about the impact of this experience in my life, but that is not what I am here to do today. I am looking to start a conversation that will hopefully allow you to think about having a conversation which could move us as a society to have a larger conversation because in my experience as far as the subject of Childhood Sexual Abuse goes, we have either been not having a conversation or have been having the wrong conversation. Continue Reading
the following is a research essay I did for a first year course, Canadian Social Welfare, in 2010 at George Brown College in Toronto.
While my directional analysis could have been more focused and provided more in the way of solutions, I still feel that it is worth posting here.
.
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Childhood Sexual Abuse and Its Impact In Canada
The perpetuation of child sexual abuse in Canada has far reaching effects and consequences for its victims, its perpetrators and Canadian society as a whole. These effects are systemic in nature and include: the trauma of the individual, the family and the community to the added burdens that it places on all of society economically, judicially and through the need for added social services. I am going to illustrate the current ramifications of child sexual abuse and what is and is not being done to prevent it from occurring. Ultimately I will suggest some structural issues that I believe need to be addressed in order to move towards improving the social impact of this issue.
do our thoughts live like
voices in our heads
does the narrator bore on and on for something
for anything
anything other than
these overused sound effects
to this old old story
movie
scene
these last few moments
of which were spent typing
t
h
i
s
disconnect
uncertainty
anxiety
depression
abuse
apathy
criminality
pain
frustration
anger
hurt
isolation
dispair
distrust
fear
abandonment
suicide
paranoia
low self-esteem
pessimism
patience
perseverance
focus
desire
optimism
love
joy
belief
balance
one moment
one breath
at a
time
watching someone i know slip and fall into a place that i so easily could have ended up
does make me appreciate so much more what i have and risk losing
by not keeping a focus on moving beyond the pain
that this reality has thrown into my path
but we owe it to ourselves
to do what we can
to heal
despite the fear
despite the built in desire
to perpetuate that which was imposed
upon us by others and which we certainly had a choice
to bring into this reality as a way in which to recognize and own
our own divinity by accepting the truth of who we are and working damn hard
to breath that in in every moment of our existence no matter where we find ourselves in the moment
chris- i send you both peace and love
and a strong desire that you do not lose sight of all that you are and have become despite where you find yourself today.
may the real change
that we seek
become a
permanent feature
in our reality
may the shift
in the status quo
march us a step
or three towards
an equal society
may the failures
of the past
become the lessons
of today
let us grow
let us grow
let us grow
nothing to say something to see
