The more I learn about trauma and its impact on multiple generations, the more I see western culture (the identity of our society) is laced with the after-effects of unhealed, unresolved, unnamed pain.

Growing up, I was taught a lot about heaven. It was a place to look forward to where there would be no more pain. I now think many faiths look for heaven because the challenges on this earth seem too big for us to face. There is a sense that these problems (or some version of them) have always been around, and always will be around-- until there is no "sin".

That is until there is no selfishness, greed, pride, lying, betrayal, violence, harm... etc. and no one has had an answer for these problems for our recorded history, and maybe we have never had these answers. The only answers we have had are religious or ritualistic in nature. (And all rituals or religions eventually create harm, as well.) But what if, through our modern understanding of the body, we were able to change this?

What if we are stepping into a time when we have the answers - where we have been given the tools to heal and repair the sense of wholeness, peace, and love which we so crave?

In the last 150 years we have solved almost every technological problem which has held previous generations back... say what you want about broken systems (I agree), but we have to acknowledge that healthcare, agriculture, and education have flourished like never before.

So now, why do we keep experiencing the same troubles of war, resource challenges, and rights being trampled on? And why the ever-increasing toll of pollution, global warming, and so on?

To me, the answer is clear. Unhealed pain will be lived out in even the simplest choices.

We need to heal ourselves before we can heal our world. It starts with each individual taking responsibility for their own pain, and refusing to pass it on to others.

Maybe the heaven on earth I envision of healed people leading peaceful lives globally is 3 generations away. Maybe it is 100 generations away. I don't know how long it will take to create, but I believe we are capable of this.

What cultural pain are you willing to take responsibility for? <3