The Global Student Article - post-Hungary 2013
The Global Student
Dr. Myna German
attended a conference related to her teaching an Honors Course,
Religion/Ethnicity in Media and the Arts in Budapest , Hungary
Afterwards she went on a “Roots” tour of Hungary , where her husband Erv Schleifer emigrated
from as a young boy, and then to Berlin Berlin Berlin
Ty moved to Germany
when she married her fiancé, who was an exchange student from Germany
Downtown Budapest 
I am going to post global work from my DSU students at home
ReplyDeletehttps://mynagermanmediajournal.blogspot.com/2018/05/the-global-student-article-post-hungary.html
DeleteWell Drained Soil: Growing with my trauma like a flower garden
DeleteAn article by Nyla D Watson
Trauma, a type of surgery and a distressing experience. A Greek word, reinforcing the idea that what we experience can disturb us to the core, giving us stunted emotions, unregulated patterns, and piercing realizations about the human psyche. For Black women, often we try too hard to rationalize our feelings without actually feeling. Our traumas are similar, some physical, some sexual, some mental, but all debilitating. We in our darkest moments turned to each other for sisterhood, knowing the feelings of long term unhappiness and no more spark. It becomes draining for you to live, not knowing how to address all these inner problems that no one ever told you we would have. You looked to our mothers, aunts, grandmothers, just about any other maternal figure for some type of rationale. But even in the midst of knowing how generational our traumas are, they themselves didn’t have the blueprint to communicate how to “solve your trauma.” al “It is your decision.” “You have the final say,” they would tell us. It was then you realize that combating your personal trauma had to come from an intimate place, one where mommy couldn’t hold your hand and wipe your tears, one where daddy couldn’t protect you from hurt feelings. If YOU wanted to grow, YOU were going to have to tend to YOUR own gardens.
But gardening takes work… a lot of it.
The first step in dealing with your trauma “garden” was coming to terms with what trauma you were actually addressing ( figuring out what type of flower you want to plant). You need to understand that what you were going through was not normal. Accepting that it was in and just a small part of your past makes it way less intimidating, because that is all it is. As for the flower of choice, Azaleas are often a symbol of temperance and abundance :)
Step two was making sure my gardening bed or foundation of healing was safe, strong, and the best for me moving forward. Azaleas are known to have a preference for well drained soil, which is important for their growth.
What does a good foundation of healing look like?
A good foundation of healing starts with you having a space that can reinforce positivity and growth. It could be a work environment, comfortable living space, or even the therapist office. Establishing a sturdy foundation where your soil is healthy and you can be vulnerable without scrutiny or judgement will give you the space to develop.
This also means eliminating weeds or negative behavior from these environments as well. Calling out past bad habits, boundaries, and behavior keeps you accountable, helping to regulate how your trauma has affected different sides of you through your actions. Once you complete this prep, your planting beds are now ready for those flowers.
Step three, the trickiest step, to actually plant, care and maintain your garden. Or in other words, nonlinear healing.
Azealeas, like growth, can “bloom” at different times, for some as soon as February or as late as October. Both are time consuming processes, where you have to be consistent in your treatment of your garden in order to see results. This can be like attending therapy and doing the work your therapist assigns you, practicing emotional regulation and privacy, or watering your garden everyday at 5:30 PM. Routinely doing something is the most sure fire way to see improvement of your situation.
These routines may come with frustration, moments of, “Did I plant this right” or “Did I journal enough last week”, or even “ Am I being a good friend?” But if for all those small doubts lies a person trying to the best of their natural given ability, then I’d say that that’s a person who wants to change, no matter how long it takes.
No one said healing is easy, or that everyone does it the same. Similar to gardening, you may just have techniques and things that just work for you. But change remains imminent to even the most stubborn people, no matter how hard they may try not to, even an Azalea.
I love the analogy with the garden
Delete