Welcome to Conscious Curiosity, where we break down concepts & insights from experts for normal people. Here's this month's "zoom out" edition, where we think about how we think with quick insights from experts & thought leaders.
Basically cliff notes for grown-ups!
The power of wounded healers
Conscious Curiosity: Edition No. 8
{Henri Nouwen quote #1}:
Nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not, 'How can we hide our wounds?' so we don't have to be embarrassed, but 'How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?'
When our wounds cease to be a source of shame, and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.
{Henri Nouwen quote #2}:
Did I offer peace today?
Did I bring a smile to someone's face?
Did I say words of healing?
Did I let go of my anger & resentment?
Did I forgive?
Did I love?
These are the real questions.
– Henri Nouwen, spiritual teacher, writer & theologian
***Note from Ansley:***
With the immense heaviness in the world recently, the time felt right for these words from Henri Nouwen. He's always been one of my favorite spiritual writers & teachers. He has an incredible way of calming the chaos & calling forth the deepest & truest things with gentleness & compassion, yet complete clarity—which it feels like we're all in desperate need of right now.
He is of course so right—none of us escape this life without pain. It's tempting to look around at someone else's life & think they've got it all figured out, but that brings us back to an earlier CC: we don't know what we don't know. So what do we do with our pain, our woundedness, with the grief of this world, especially when it feels like too much to bear?
I hear two particular gifts of wisdom in Nouwen's words. First, we stop trying to hide behind a mask that pretends everything is perfect. We offer our real selves with our real stories to the people in our lives, believing that "there is a crack in everything; that's how the light gets in."
And second, we start with today, with the people & opportunities right in front of us instead of trying to bear more grief & weight on our shoulders than we were ever meant to carry. We ask ourselves each day "life's real questions" about offering peace, saying words of healing, bringing a smile to someone's face, letting go of our own anger & resentment, forgiving & loving the people in our actual lives.
We pray. We love. We drop the masks & let our own wounds become sources of healing. That is how we do our part every day to bring light to a dark world.
Curious to learn more? Recommended resources below:
WHO IS HENRI NOUWEN?
Henri Nouwen was a Dutch-born Catholic priest, professor, psychologist and prolific writer. He taught psychology at the University of Notre Dame and pastoral theology at the Divinity Schools of Yale and Harvard before leaving academia to become the pastor at L’Arche Daybreak, a community for people with intellectual disabilities. A master communicator, Nouwen wrote and spoke with great openness and vulnerability about faith, spiritual formation, prayer, social justice, and other themes related to the spiritual life. He wrote thirty-nine books that sold over one million copies in his lifetime and were translated into more than thirty-five languages.
Stay tuned for the next edition (zoom in) dropping August 1st!
Due to popular demand, we're continuing the Neuroception + cues of safety & threat deep dive. If you have any specific questions or curiosities on neuroception or any other topics, please email me at ansley@consciouscuriosity.com.
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August | topic preview: {psychology}
What do our brains care about more than anything else?
Neuroception, explained | PART II
Coming soon:
- {relationships}: What makes a relationship happy & healthy?
Gottmans' Marriage Masters & Disasters, explained.
- {faith}: As a Christian, do you have to pick between believing in Creationism & Evolution? Evolutionary Creationism, explained.
What to expect from Conscious Curiosity emails:
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on the 1st of each month: "zoom in" editions with useful tidbits from the experts on relationships, faith & psychology.
- one "deep dive" + two fun facts, rotating spotlight between topics (relationships, faith & psychology)
- sneak peak of next month's content
- on the 15th of each month: "zoom out" editions with quick insights from experts & thought leaders to help us think about how we think.
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