Frederich Nietzsche: “That which doesn’t kill me…”
Friedrich Nietzsche, in Twilight of the Idols (1888) wrote, “What does not kill me, makes me stronger.”
Trauma theory suggests that this may not be so.
“That which doesn’t kill me leaves big scars…”
or, as the Joker in Batman suggests:
“I believe anything that doesn’t kill you makes you stranger”
Check out Donald Kalsched, Ph.D. who has written extensively about trauma.
I don’t know how big the scars are that trauma and life have left in their wake of things that haven’t killed me, but I do know scars have been left and I am a different person because of them. I can say that I continue to learn who that person is.
I am 5 years from my trauma & even now it makes me strange. But I’m still learning.
I experienced a tremendous, destabilizing trauma six years ago.
Suddenly, overnight, my entire life went into the wind when a deadly parasitic infection took hold.
I have slowly recovered.
My brain is functioning quite well now and my body, although in constant pain, (for which I accept no pharmceuticals) is stronger and more able than many can believe.
It was not trauma which made me stronger. If anything it made me weaker.
As a result of the trauma, however, I discovered the great well of strength I possessed.
I am the same person, although i do still have to work to offset the inevitable strangeness of long isolation and I guess I’ve always been strange 🙂
What I didn’t know, and now do, is I have also always been strong.
Good luck with your work, with your project.
I truly enjoy your contribitions to my life. Thank you.
I’ve been thinking about this phenomenon recently. Trauma in childhood has been with me my entire life, but I experienced a traumatic event last year, and I feel very “changed” by it. I don’t feel like the same person. I just thought last night how death of loved ones has “disfigured” me. I don’t know if I agree with this slogan anymore, although I used to prior to last year’s experience, which I’m still in the midst of. Speaking off the cuff, it’s definitely made me more compassionate and softer, but I don’t know if stronger applies anymore. Maybe the collective unconscious has has enough to do with strength, and it’s time for something different for the world. I just read a Jung comment that said emotions are vital in transformation, and actually, impossible without them. And, part of my process recently has been in processing lots of difficult emotions.
‘Trauma’s a given; suffering is optional.’ Mark Epstein, MD/The Trauma of Everyday Life