I’ve been thinking a lot about my parents lately, and wondering:

What if we all have to recover from childhood?

To be clear: I am not discussing abuse situations in this post. I am curious about the experience of being a child – small, without agency, growing and changing and learning at a fast rate – it is a very vulnerable state.

What if, regardless of parenting style, each person emerges from childhood wounded in some way? What if a reasonable, ‘normal’ childhood is an essentially wounding experience?

What if it is perfectly normal, perhaps even essential, to be wounded?

Image: First Birthday by Amoret