Reclaiming Your Life Quotes

“Traumatic events destroy the sustaining bonds between individual and community. Those who have survived learn that their sense of self, of worth, of humanity, depends upon a feeling of connection with others. The solidarity of a group provides the strongest protection against terror and despair, and the strongest antidote to traumatic experience. Trauma isolates; the group re-creates a sense of belonging. Trauma shames and stigmatizes; the group bears witness and affirms. Trauma degrades the victim; the group exalts her. Trauma dehumanizes the victim; the group restores her humanity.
Repeatedly in the testimony of survivors there comes a moment when a sense of connection is restored by another person’s unaffected display of generosity. Something in herself that the victim believes to be irretrievably destroyed---faith, decency, courage---is reawakened by an example of common altruism. Mirrored in the actions of others, the survivor recognizes and reclaims a lost part of herself. At that moment, the survivor begins to rejoin the human commonality...”
― Judith Lewis Herman, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence - From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror

“This isn’t a fix-you formula, but a mirror to see what’s been there all along. You’ll challenge the beliefs that shrink you. You’ll take back the power they kept from you. Not by shouting louder, but by showing up clearer. You were never meant to stay small. You’re here to become unforgettable. And you won’t get there by waiting for the algorithm. The job title or the mentor to choose you. You choose you. Starting now.”
― Kinga Bali, The Unforgettable You: 21 Lies To Unlearn: A Human-Centered Guide to Personal Branding, Reputation Management & Thought Leadership in the Age of AI