Made out of delicate material to reflect the delicate subject it addresses, this piece was created with multiple layers of watercolor paper, carefully cut out to create depth and illuminate space. Each cut illustrates the deep layers that make us who we are. The ladders represent the many paths people take in order to escape their own suffering and navigate their fate. The golden path represents the golden rule: do unto others as you want done unto yourself. The most righteous path feels light in the heart. 

 

It feels like surrendering when I claim unwanted parts of me as my own and I do not let it define me. Perhaps my outright ownership of my own circumstances will help someone else address their own generational trauma. Generational trauma can be defined as “psychological and physiological effects passed down from one generation to the next.”

I first heard this term used in an undergrad Psychology class at Boston College and it sparked the beginning of my research. Through my own personal experience, I came to a deeper understanding of how generational trauma was impacting my own psyche.

 

There seemed to be a common thread that tied my family together at the bones. Something that could not be traced through sharp features or displayed in old photographs. Their stories lingered on my skin before I even developed the skill to read. I felt their pain before I had the words to explain it; before I had the stories to weave it into my own timeline. Survival mode became the only path. This fear was stored in our ancestors' bodies, passed down through genetics, and manifested into this reality. 

We share the same waters, we share the same air. You taught me how to navigate deep trenches and overcome vicious predators. You protected me in the best way you knew how, but in teaching me to be a warrior you forgot to show me how to be a lover.  And I know, we share things that we have never spoken out loud.

 

Thank you for trying to protect me in the only way you knew how.

I’m sorry you have been convinced the only way to live is to survive. 

I forgive you, what has passed is past. 

I love you, forever.

 

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