*Trigger Warning: Assault, abuse, and self-harm mentioned.*
- Note From the Artist -
You need to know this first...
​
To better understand my story, you need to look through both lenses of lived and generational trauma. It is a story of assault and abuse within the spectrum of human relationships.
I experienced CSA early in life. I have learned my “no” does not carry the same weight as others. Very seldom am I given autonomy over my body.
You must understand the weight of prejudice and racism. The world I lived in growing up did not offer an understanding of differences. The slightest deviation was a license to attack.
Bullying was, and is, a constant.
I carried the weight of an unaccommodated disability, suppressing my needs so painfully that a slice on my skin felt like relief.
As a teen, a car accident left me with a brain injury that went undiagnosed for a decade, while my symptoms were misdiagnosed.
The treatments for the misdiagnoses did more harm than good.
After I discontinued treatment, the prescribing doctor told me to continue “or else [my] family would stop loving [me], kick [me] out, and [I] would die alone on the street or in a 'psych ward.'”
You need both hands to count how many times I tried to go Home in my life.
​
Once I prioritized my intuition, I started healing.
When I ignored the advice, I started thriving.
​
I am neurodivergent, my experience of this world is different from most.
With autonomy, I flourish.
With respect, I grow.
Only when you understand the combined weight
of all of the details,
of all of the above,
can you understand Me.
My story,
My work,
My requests for respect.
- LN -