I am feeling overwhelmed (in the best way possible) at all the support and feedback I have received since the launch of the Light After Trauma podcast about a month ago.
To provide a little bit of background info, it took me about 8 months to put together this podcast. By no means did I wake up one day and decide I was just going to wing it. I have spent countless hours taking online courses, getting feedback from others, writing down ideas, trashing them, brainstorming new ideas, trashing them, panicking that I wouldn’t be able to do it, looking in the mirror and asking myself if I was worthy of having a podcast, losing my mind over the thought of putting myself out there, and then pushing forward and pursing my dreams anyway.
All of this is to say that I did not take this process lightly. My heart, soul, blood, sweat, tears, hopes, doubts, and fears are all poured into this podcast – a podcast that I created to allow myself and other trauma survivors a safe space for growing, learning, healing, and holding onto hope.
When anxiety about starting a podcast crept in, as it often did, I told myself repeatedly “Even if just 5 people listen, it will be worth it. Even if this show only helps one person to hold on to hope, it will all be worth it.” But low and behold, 4 weeks into the launch there are nearly 600 downloads and I. AM. SHOOK.
But let me be clear – I’m not ecstatic because of the numbers, per se. The numbers don’t mean much. Rather, it’s what the numbers represent! They represent PEOPLE – human beings whom I hope and pray are realizing that they aren’t alone in their emotions or their experiences. People are hearing me, they are hearing the voices of the wonderful folks who come on my show; and most importantly, they are learning that in spite of so much grief, anger, and sorrow, there is hope and healing and happiness.
I am so grateful for the love and kindness you all have shown this podcast. I am also grateful for the opportunity to hold space on the show to allow others to speak not only about their own trauma histories but also about the incredible things they are doing in their careers as a result of their traumatic experiences.
One of the outcomes that I could have never predicted when starting the Light After Trauma podcast is the beauty that comes with allowing others to share their stories on air. It was not until I finished my first several interviews that I realized how vulnerable my guests were becoming. I saw how creating space for them to speak was also helping them to take one more step in their own recovery process.
I believe that every time we speak, we heal a little bit more. And while I hold space for my patients to speak in my role as a therapist, it’s different with the podcast because I am not the therapist. I am simply the listener, the space-holder, if you will; and it has been profoundly beautiful to watch the healing take place right before my eyes.
So I thank you all from the bottom of my heart. Light After Trauma is still in the baby stages, but I have such high hopes for the future. In the words of the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”