Thinking About Healing
After a very long process of collaboration, creativity, and care, we have a new zine! This zine is thinking about healing.
Healing – The restoration and balancing of our bodies, minds, energies, spirits, communities, identities, of ourselves (in any way that we understand our self to be). Healing is not curing or solving, it does not expect forgetfulness or falsity of feeling – it’s okay to not be okay. Healing is the sincere exploration of our being, of our feelings, of our power, and of our personal (and often challenging) growth and regrowth into these things.
Harmful, dangerous, violent and scary events happen to our being, and to those around us, throughout the paths of our lives. Our responses – whether they are anything, everything, or nothing – during these moments are our resistance to harm and violence. This is our survival.
After these moments, carrying these moments, and moving through / past / forward from these moments, we continue to resist and to survive. While we still survive, these moments may make us feel as though we have lost, blurred, or been divided from what we understand to be our self. To defy this, in exploring, redefining, restoring, balancing our self, we heal. We – however we understand our self to be – were there, we are there, we will be there. We grow and regrow into and out of this self. We heal by embracing and learning to embrace this self.
Just as both plants and our bodies heal using cells that become the cells needed for healing in a specific situation, our healing can take different forms at different times. Healing can be long or brief, it can be hard sometimes and feel easier at other times. We may need the support of others, we may find the support within our self. Healing can be up and down, forward and backward, in and out, off and on, or anywhere in between or outside of these. This zine is thinking about healing.
In this zine you can find ideas about experiencing, reacting to, and healing after harm. It was written by an unknown and thoughtful AVP volunteer and put together by another. While this zine can be helpful for anyone (whether experiencing harm or stress or sadness or nothing at all), it is dedicated to survivors of sexual assault. We believe you and we believe your healing is important.
We have copies in our office to pick up, and you can download a pdf of the zine here.
