“what doesn’t kill you…
makes you stronger”
or so they say
it might be true
but I’ll tell you what I think
it sounds like an abuser’s excuse
as usual…shifting the blame…
to you
ya know what else it creates?
scars that never heal
fears that never weaken
triggers unseen…
sneaking up when everything seems okay
proving yet again…
nothing is really safe
it burns memories best forgotten…
into permanent imagery
making it impossible to trust our sight
as damage overlays reality…
or is it the other way around?
thoughts that spin forever…
stuck on the last option…
too frozen to make a decision
because instincts are muted
leaving us…uprooted
nothing solid to stand on
it locks us in isolation…
teaching us how to exist alone
believing somehow we’re tainted
we must be…right?
nobody else seems…broken…like this
I’d like to retire that quote…
ban it for all time…
it’s meant to appease the conscience…
of those who really have none
& benefits none of the innocent
hello beautiful Willow it seems we are on similar wavelengths as of late the world has made me cautious and fear overtakes… great write you are not alone ❤️
The world is definitely not a welcoming place these days. I find myself retreating further from it every day. Thank you, Brenda 🧡
POWERFUL AND POIGNANT.
Thank you!
That phrase neglects something; It hides the trauma that stirred the mantra to be uttered. It doesn’t really make you stronger. It makes you “on guard”.
Your words ring true, Willow. Let it out and stand proud of it.
It’s reminiscent of “suck it up, buttercup” to me. They do the abusing & then try to say they’re doing us a favor by “toughening” us up. Scar tissue is just as sensitive…just that nothing grows there anymore. Thank you, Styxian
Into the book it belongs! Mic Drop, Willow. I got goosebumps! Appreciate you.
Damian
I’ve been much in my head of late. Kinda dark place in the world these days. My own demons are at least familiar. Thank you, my friend
Mic drop!! felt this too deeply love..
🌹
Why are there so damn many of us? And the number just keeps going up. Thank you
Like the joker said “Whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stranger”. I think that’s a bit more accurate haha.
Great ink.
I like that one! It does that, for sure. Thank you, my friend
Amazing work, Willow. I find myself blushing and cursing myself for never looking at that slogan from this point of view. I gave no thought of that phrase being anything more than absurd for its stupidity. Not that I never knew the pain — or felt it from my father’s hand, or saw it when my mother lay upon the floor with one leg jutting outward at an odd angle. I think I preferred to ignore it, not from shame or ignorance, but because the pain is still there, buried deep within my mind, still sticking in the knife. Thank you for this.
This is why I write. Because those images haunt. And everyday nonsensical phrases take on different weight when you look at them from the other side. I can never not be fractured. I’m a complete kaleidoscope but if I can draw light to bits and pieces, make people see differently, than maybe someone else won’t experience it later that day. Or they might recognize the truth in what is being said and know they’re not alone in feeling it. We don’t change the world in leaps and bounds, we change it in moments and inches. But it does change. Thank you, FlatDaddy