childofaddicts

The mother wound- in action and how to address it

I was recently contacted by an amazing show… which I will reveal later, if I get on.. but I really hope I do, because they are doing great work, and guess what??!!! They want to do a show on “the mother wound.”

They found me via tiktok (thanks again tiktok for all the connections you have brought me) I had put the #motherwound on one of my videos, however, I never really understood what that was so I had to do a little research on it. Here is what I found "The mother wound includes the dysfunctional coping mechanisms of women: sacrificing their needs, denying their power and potential, and abandoning their authenticity," Macaluso explains. "These strategies hammer home dysfunctional patterns [like] self-sacrifice, self-denial, and self-abandonment, which become highly dysfunctional traits in adulthood." you can read more here

Actually, as I post that.. it wasn’t the original article I found, but I really like this one. It speaks of the oppression of women, due to “ living in a patriarchal culture that's oppressive toward women.” which I may dive into later..

However, I knew that my childhood harvested a mother wound, and through my filming, I got to see my mother also had a mother wound.. and it has probably been going on for centuries!

What I came to see “my mother wound” being, was; growing up in an environment that lacked safety, security, and the inability to express my negative emotion.. due to my mother’s own pains.

This upbringing lead me to have low self-esteem. I didn’t value myself, because I believed my mother’s actions were in relation to how she felt about me. WHICH in reality and in my healing process with my mom, couldn’t be further from the truth. You know that saying “ hurt people, hurt people” well this is true. My mothers own pain, her own low self-esteem led her to numb through drugs. Yet, as much as I know this truth, it doesn’t heal the wound. SO I’m still in the process with this..

For myself, I numbed with drinking and sex. I guess I learned enough about the hazards of drugs from my mom, but I had to figure out that the way I was coping, wasn’t any different. And there are SOO many ways we cope to avoid our pains, overworking, distraction, even exercising can do this, even though we do need a healthy level of it. But when we overdo something it creates an imbalance. PLUS what I am REALLY coming to understand is: if we are feeling the need to get a rush, or to distract ourselves… maybe there is something we need to look at within.

If you follow my blog or videos on TikTok, you will know that I am constantly self-analyzing myself with the aim to heal and to address my wounds (openly). So often they aren’t visible and we act in ways that leave us hurting and we keep repeating cycles.

In my process of “reparenting” myself. I have to be accountable. I have to tell myself to NOT numb.. and to FEEL. Then to look into what those feelings are, and where are they coming from.

There is this great article on the power of turning inward when life gets hard.. if you want a good read on one of the American presidents and what he did after losing a wife and mother on the same day.

I am currently in this stage of needing to address my pain, as yet again, my relationship failed. Or should I say.. ran its course:-) because I believe “life is always working for you, not against you”

This brings me back to the quote at the top of this blog. So ok.. I have a mother wound. I know I struggle with feeling safe in romantic relationships, because I didn’t have that security as a child, and as much as I work on this.. its a process. AND because of this, I will need a partner that can understand my need, and see where it comes from with love, and if they are the right match it will be their pleasure to offer me that from within them. Oh man… its taken me a LONG time to stop lying to myself about that need! I have tried to stretch and shape into a person that I wasn’t because I was ashamed of this need, I was ashamed of my mother wound. But today I choose to love all of me. And I hope for all of us healing this part of ourselves right now. I hope you can give yourself the same amount of love to yourself, as you would to others.

So today I will see how brave I am being.. and let go of that which no longer serves me.

AS I am setting the precedent for my next partner to know my need, because I know and honor it within myself.

TO anyone reading this.. and if you too are healing this wound.. may we come together,.. and support each other on this journey, because … "pain travels through families until someone is willing to feel it” And if we are here doing the work.. let’s all give ourselves a pat on the back.. and an “I see you” <3 because we deserve that!

And I’ll leave you again with a song.. that feels like the love I want to be in.. clip of those lyrics below..

“That falling in love is a strange work of art

All of your battles will shape who you are

and know that your scars are my favorite part” -Brian Leseney fennel

Addiction and why I picked up my camera

addiction through the eyes of daughter

When I first started this film, I thought it would be for kids, like myself, that have been torn away from their parents from drug addiction. Without knowing how I would tell the story, or even what the story would be about, I just started shooting and asking questions. I guess I thought if I could understand my mom's addiction, I could find the answers to my own pain. Skip to 15 years later, I'm still learning and healing, even after she is gone. I don't know if you will ever find all the answers, but maybe life isn’t always about that. Maybe it truly is about the journey, and hopefully, it will lead to a place of more love for oneself and others.

Human pain is all the same, as my mom told me, “ no one’s pain is better or worse than the others.” Through this journey with this film, I learned how to heal my wounds through understanding, compassion, and ultimately forgiveness. I learned that the pain I held inside from my mom’s choices, were choices she made from her own place of pain. It wasn’t about me. It also didn’t mean I had to deny my own feelings in order to understand her why’s, because it still happened to me, and that was real. I’ve learned you can hold compassion for both aspects of pain, and it is necessary to fully heal.

I see the results of addiction on families and it tears my heart apart. I see people living without a soul to call on, alone and feeling unloved. And I’ve seen family members destroyed when their loved ones pass away and they feel like they let them down. So, how can we end these vicious cycles of pain and regret? The only way I know how is to keep the love alive and to keep healing ourselves, so we can be there for those who lost their way to their own self-love.

This journey became not only about making a film but as a tool for my own healing and ultimately becoming a voice for those that have lost theirs. It has transitioned from being only for kids to becoming something for us all. I hope that by sharing our journey there will be lessons along the way that will help others on a similar path. Because all we did was clumsily, determinedly, kept trying to find a way through all the misunderstandings and pain, and we got there in the end. We got to the source of what really mattered and that was love.

Addiction may take lives, but it doesn’t have to take love.

Access my healing tools here


 

Podcast out now! EP:128 on RFR

Hi all, I have some exciting news to share. I was recently on Recovering from Reality with Alexis Haines. We got to sit down and talk about my upcoming documentary, what it has been like growing up in the home of a person with an addiction, and how we figured out how to STILL build and maintain a healthy relationship.

I look forward to hearing your feedback about the show! Please comment below, and if you want me on your show please contact me, I would LOVE to share our journey more!:-)

Artwork for Ep. 128 Supporting Addicts with Connection Not Control with Tarah Dowling RECOVERING FROM REALITYEp. 128 Supporting Addicts with Connection Not Control with Tarah Dowling 30 00:00:00 / 00:44:55 30 Subscribe to This ShowDownload This EpisodeEmbed This PlayerShare This Episode