Our deepest wounds often shape us as much as our greatest joys. The pain we carry—and the ways we learn to move through it—can define who we become. We asked community members from a broad array of industries to reflect on their defining wounds and have shared the responses below.
Fenia Bozionelou
The defining wounds of my life have quite literally been the wounds I got from surgery three years ago. But let’s take it from the start. It was Christmas, and I was back home in Greece with my family. After Christmas dinner, I had what I later learned was my first panic attack. Read more>>
Jacob Spivack
Some of the defining wounds of my life have stemmed from living with ADHD and navigating the ways in which these differences have shaped my relationships. In adolescence, I experienced the loss of friendships that once felt essential, struggling to comprehend how connections that mattered deeply could fray or disappear. Read more>>
Janet Rae Orth
As a sensitive and empathic person, I felt wounded every time someone judged or criticized me. I could feel it—they didn’t even have to say it out loud. When I was young, I internalized all of it. Those voices became my voices. The healing came when I learned to release judgment energetically—to literally let it go from my energy field. Read more>>
Darian Jerard is DJ BORN (ROGUE Productions)
While I haven’t shared this with anyone other than my Mom and Brother, the defining wounds of my Life was when my Wife left me, and took my Son’s with her. It was like I was in a movie. I came home one day and half the furniture was gone and there was no sign of my family anywhere. No note; No address; No anything. Read more>>
Emily Davidson
I’ve faced rejection and disapproval all throughout my music career. At around age 15 I decided I wanted to pursue classical cello as my career, and I was told I was already ‘too late’ since I hadn’t been studying cello privately long enough. Read more>>
