During the time I’ve been dealing with my own healing, I’ve read parts of the book _The Courage to Heal_ by Laura Davis and Ellen Bass many, many times. When I was younger and my therapist first suggested I read it, I kept wanting to say “Oh I don’t really need this, I’m fine.” Towards the beginning of the book is a series of questions to help you assess what kind of damage you are still carrying from past traumas, and that was very eye-opening for me at that time.
Years later, after working through a lot, I wanted to revisit those questions to check my progress in healing. It seemed to me then that what I really wanted by then was a set of questions more focused on how healthy you are now, rather than how damaged you still are. – Note: I want to say that _The Courage to Heal_ is an excellent book for those first starting to deal with healing from the damage caused by severe abuse; what I wanted when I wrote this was something for those further along.
lyrics
Chorus:
Can you face your own decisions that got you to where you are?
When you look up do you just see clouds or can you see your star?
When the night is clouded over and the road has been too long,
Can you only hear the noise outside or can you hear your song?
Do you ever feel creative – the urge to make something true?
Can you move with inspiration as it pours itself through you?
Can you feel the core inside you that is beauty, bliss, and love?
Can you feel it deep within you, not just outside or above?
Can you dream without repression? Can you make those dreams come true?
Can you actually accomplish things that you set out to do?
Can you look at what you’ve done after you know you’ve done your best?
When the struggle’s finally over, can you enjoy success?
Chorus
Can you reach through your anger to connect with other souls?
Or does fury keep you locked out from relationships and goals?
Can you open up and feel your pain and still find strength to rise?
Can you open up and face your fear and move beyond its lies?
Do you feel many emotions? I mean more than just a few.
Angry, hurt, scared, sad, and happy – no, there’s so much more to you.
The deepest of the oceans skims the surface of your heart.
Just remember why we all were given feelings from the start.
Chorus
Can you trust another person, or the universe at all?
Can you lean on someone else’s strength when you’re about to fall?
Can you ask for help and guidance? Can you listen when it’s there?
Can you believe anyone who tells you that they care?
Can you let someone love you? Feed you? Work toward dreams with you?
Can you slow down and stop running when you see love coming through?
Can you feel love for another, and express it when it’s true?
Can you feel that love reflected from the one you gave it to?
Chorus
credits
from Éist le mo Scéal (Listen to my Story),
released November 1, 2006
Inspired by the book _The Courage to Heal_ by Laura Davis and Ellen Bass.
Written, composed, and performed by Caera
From haunting Celtic lullabies, through laments of intense grief and pain, to songs of healing and hope, Caera’s music
always contains an authenticity that can be hard to find in today’s music, or even in today’s world in general. Powerful soprano vocals blend with the bell-like tones of her brass-strung Gaelic harp to create music that carries people through life, dreaming or fully awake....more
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