A Thought and A Resource
I’m working on a follow up to the mind/body split pieces, but it’s not ready yet. In the meantime, two things:
A quick thought on that last piece: That whole process of sanctified dissociation--the mind trying desperately to dominate the body, to prohibit misbehavior and sin--sits against the backdrop of the threat of hell, banishment, and separation from the Divine. For me, and maybe for you if you were raised with those beliefs, punishment and exile are the threats, the belief based traumas, that activate that dissociation. It’s not like the mind is just trying to be an asshole. It’s been taught that sin is reason for pain and separation and that the body is a sinner. It feels that threat looming everywhere. It’ll resort to anything to prevent it and shame seems a handy tool for control.
But the horrible irony is that shame really does separate. It really does create an experience of isolation and becomes a “mind-made” internal hell/exile. The very thing the mind is trying to prevent it’s perpetuating. I think, in its best form, Christianity has as its goal releasing us from shame. But often in its current form (at least in evangelicalism), instead of focusing on release it works hard to convince us we’re shameful sinners first and then uses shame to maintain control. If you were raised in such a faith, and have fallen outside of its condoned belief, behavior, and identity boundaries, trauma induced shame is likely a primary takeaway. For me, it’s a daily struggle, AND I believe release is possible.
Joy Oladokun’s album in defense of my own happiness speaks to so many things, religious trauma being one of them, and goes straight through me. It touches painful places and lets them weep, insisting on healing. Hope you can listen! And if you do and are willing to comment and share a lyric that resonated, I’d love that.