🎭 You Can See the Scar, But Not the Story
At 50 years old, I’ve finally started putting language to the pain I’ve carried most of my life. Not just the physical pain — the nerve damage, the chronic inflammation, the aftermath of surgery — but the pain that came long before any of that.
I’m talking about the emotional pain body.
The part of me that holds everything that wasn’t allowed to surface:
Racism.
Poverty.
Silenced grief.
Inherited trauma.
The legacy of slavery — yes, even in 2025.
That pain doesn’t show up on an X-ray. But it shows up in the way I shrink. It shows up in the way I doubt myself. It shows up in how hard it is to receive goodness without bracing for loss.
🧠 I Had to Meet My Emotional Pain Body First
Before I could heal my physical pain, I had to get honest about the emotional wounds I’d buried.
I couldn’t move forward until I acknowledged the impact of racism — not as a concept, but as a lived, daily reality.
Being Black and queer in this country, being raised in systems that weren’t built for our thriving — it changes how you breathe. How you dream. How you age.
I used to think I was making excuses for why things hadn’t “worked out” the way I imagined.
But now I see — it’s not an excuse.
It’s the truth.
And it’s one that deserves a voice.
🫱🏾🫲🏼 From Opposite Shores, Same Trek
My friend from TikTok, @Qstir, is doing her own life inventory.
We come from different lived experiences — different races, backgrounds, stories.
But the emotional terrain? It’s familiar.
We’re both tracing the fingerprints of systems we didn’t create but were shaped by.
We’re both learning how to sit with what hurts without shame.
And that’s the point.
Healing isn’t about erasing difference — it’s about honoring our full humanity.
It’s about saying: “I see your scar. I know you have a story.”
🔁 This Is Personal, Historical, and Generational
There’s a reason you feel like you’re always starting over.
There’s a reason you feel exhausted even when nothing “big” has happened.
There’s a reason why healing hurts before it helps.
It’s because your nervous system — your emotional body — remembers what the world asked you to forget.
If you’ve ever been told you were “too sensitive”...
If you’ve ever made yourself small to survive...
If you’ve ever wondered why life feels so damn heavy even when you’re doing everything “right”…
You are not broken.
You are not lazy.
You are not alone.
🪷 You Did It. I Did It. We Did It.
What did we do?
We woke up WINNING.
And that win is not about perfection.
It’s about presence.
It’s about choosing to look at your story — scar and all — and say:
“This happened. And I still get to rise.”
🧭 Let’s Keep Walking Together
You don’t have to have all the answers.
You don’t need a 10-step plan.
You just need a willingness to see yourself clearly.
To listen to the emotional pain body that’s been waiting to be held.
🫶🏾 Join the conversation.
🗣️ Share this blog with someone who’s on the journey.
📅 Tune into our next Woke Up Winning Warrior™ Live June 16, 2025
Because your healing is not a solo mission — it’s a movement.
#WokeUpWinningWarrior #TheWinIsInTheWakeUp #BlackWomenHealing #GenXHealing #EmotionalPainBody #SlaveryIsNotOver #RacismIsReal #HealingTogether #Resilience #SpeakYourPain #WeStillRise
