Goliath
In a dusty corner of a travelling circus, a young elephant was tied to a slender wooden stake. Day after day, he tugged and pulled, but the rope held firm. As the years passed, the elephant grew into a majestic being with great strength. Yet, each day, he stood quietly by the same slender stake, held by the same thin rope.
One afternoon, a young boy, his eyes wide with wonder, asked the elephant trainer,
‘Papa, why doesn’t he run away?’
‘Ah, ’ his father replied, ‘because he doesn’t believe he can.’
The Stories We Live By
If asked to reflect on your childhood, what comes to mind? Are particular stories flooding your thoughts, or are emotions grabbing your attention? Is there a sense of joy that sparks a smile or a sadness you’d rather forget?
Our childhood experiences of love, care, attention or lack thereof, quietly shape our beliefs and values, often without our awareness. Ideas of what love looks like, what we deserve, and how we react to intimacy are all deeply influenced by early conditioning.
Echoes of the Past
Many of our adult anxieties, sensitivities and emotional spikes are echoes of childhood wounds. What made us feel unsafe, unloved or ashamed back then, can still live in us now, showing up in ways we can’t immediately explain.
I’ve spent years trying to understand, unravel and rewire the effects of early conditioning. We all have a story, many stories, and this is not about mine, but I would like to share some of the discoveries I’ve made in the hope that you’ll find something relatable and meaningful.
Secrets, Lies and Liberation
‘Secrets, Lies and Liberation’ is a new series exploring the hidden scripts we absorbed growing up, how they carry or confine us, help us to thrive and succeed or continue to wreak havoc.
The aim is to look under the hood, consider research from psychology and neuroscience and find the happy ending. There may be fairytales, some dark, others symbolic, metaphors and a sprinkling of philosophical enquiry.
What happens when we question the narratives that define our reality - and choose a different ending?