Voicing the Unfinished Story

The strength of being seen when you're not yet 'on the other side'

Most of the time, we see content from people who have already made it to ‘the other side.’ We see the smiles, the success stories, the clarity that comes after healing.

And all of that is valid. It is helpful to see the shares from that place because it gives people hope that what they are going through will eventually pass and it will eventually make sense.

But what about the people still in the messy middle—the ones standing on the edge of the cliff, unsure of what's next? What about their stories and experiences?

What about the expression from the people in that place?

We hear all the time to share from your scars, not your wounds.

And I think there’s some wisdom in that so that we don’t hurt other people, or we don’t hurt ourselves further. And we can protect ourselves by not inviting harmful or unsafe people into our open wounds.

But I think we are also missing a big opportunity when we don’t see shares from the messy middle space of life.

In my personal experience, sharing from the scars is sharing the knowledge that was learned from the wounds. And while there’s value in that, what I’ve experienced is that there’s still a filter of sorts…sort of like this rose colored tint over the situation when expressed from the scar. I find that it doesn’t touch people at the heart of what they are going through as deeply. It can leave this taste of disconnection and not feeling seen or understood.

As I write this I feel very clear that this topic is totally personal preference based on personal comfort, safety and beliefs. So I want to preface that I am speaking from my opinion and my own messy middle through this.