The Ripple Effect

TikTok taught me.

So, the weirdest thing happened.

I posted a TikTok over the weekend of an old tweet where I explain how my father’s white streak grew in after he was taken hostage, and that mine grew in around the same age as his experience. I alluded to my belief of how we carry our family’s trauma in many different ways.

People got pissed.

Suddenly, my views were skyrocketing, I was getting multiple comments a minute, and the trolls came out with a fury. The post reached over 525K views and hundreds of comments from people arguing about whether or not trauma can be passed down genetically. Some were very ferocious about how that is not how genetics works, while others backed epigenetics and explained that perhaps science hasn’t caught up with everything there is to know yet. Meanwhile, I was terrified.

I have a fear of being seen. We can spend months unpacking that, but let’s focus. Here I was being attacked on a social media platform thinking, “Why did I post this? I should just delete it and go back into my cave so I don’t have to deal witht this.”

And that’s when I heard, “You were meant to spark these conversations.”

Oh fuck.

This wasn’t my first experience. I once got hounded by hundreds of scientists on Twitter a couple years ago when I said that the way the moon affects the tides of the ocean, it affects the tides within us. People tore me apart lol. I was so terrified, I deleted the tweet to become invisible again. And look at us now. Doing moon readings to better understand our emotions. Life is funny.

See, here’s the thing—In my world, anything is possible. We operate from a “believe it to see it” mindset. Science is appreciated, but it is not the be all, end all. And for these very reasons, I’ve masked myself out of fear of being seen and ridiculed for my beliefs that were not always widely accepted. Would I be able to stand up for myself? Do I have that kind of confidence? And here I was being challenged through TikTok. I knew what was true for me. I know what I feel to be true, so I don’t need research or logic to validate that. Yet, here I was getting questioned, judged, put down, harassed…what was I gonna do?

I left the video up. I made one response to a rude comment, but came from a place of compassion instead of ego. I refused to engage and I refused to let one incident make me question who I am, what I stand for and what I know to be true for me.

I did the work, and now I was acing the final. I need to be OK with being seen and sparking conversations about slightly controversial things, because I can handle it. I’m equipped to maneuver through these situations when I own it.

Generational trauma is real, and that is a huge gap of awareness for people who are hurting. Most of what you’re carrying, quite physically in your DNA, is not even your burden to bear. But it fell on your shoulders, because you’re the one strong enough to break it down. It’s ironic that this TikTok madness happened the same weekend as our Intergenerational Trauma webinar, where I was once again reassured that I wasn’t talking out of my ass.

And so, I planted a seed. I pulled an Angela Bassett and lit a fire then turned and walked away. And that was all I needed to do. No more, no less. Just have 15 seconds of bravery to step outside the box openly, and let it land. Because that debate in the comments sparked conversation, and that diaolgue is what’s going to change everything.

Recognize these moments in your life. Those 15 seconds when the Universe gives you an opening to take all that you’ve learned and stand for what you believe in and feel confident in that, even if you’re standing alone. Because how can your people find you if you’re hiding?

Step up, step out and start the ripple.