Hurt people hurt others. Hurt that is not transformed is transmitted. These two insights have helped me understand so much – about relationships I’m part of, about my relationship with colonization, about why Magneto in the X-Men is so unrelentingly bad.

And sometimes, that has felt like a formula that cannot be resolved in any other direction than hurt amplifies hurt.

But this little meme that I screenshot and now don’t know who to credit, adds another layer to it. If hurt people hurt others, then of course, the same fundamental principles must apply to healed and whole people. Healed people heal others. Safe people shelter others. Free spirits free others, and enlightened people illuminate others. Every step we take towards wholeness, and integrity, expands the possibilities for everyone around us, out of the contraction of trauma.