Superman said WHAT about Mental Health?!
The more we try to resist what brought us here, the more those roots hold us back
What does Superman have to say about mental health? More than we want. More than we deserve. But maybe just what we need.
#trans #LGBTQIA #transitioning #queer #superman #swampthing #rebirth #Mentalhealth #MentalHealthAwareness
As a person with transgender experiences, transitioning is just as much about integrating your past as it is about cultivating your future. But the same holds true for all of us in and out of the queer circle.
The more we try to resist what brought us here, the more those roots hold us back.
But they’re a part of us. The people, the memories, the experiences. The ones who hurt us and need to be let go. The ones who helped us but were only here for a short time, too.
The thing is that those past selves — the ones that were good to us and the ones that were bad — include our own past selves, too.
Because, you see, your past is always going to be a part of you. Those parts where your dysphoria never knew greater heights — and your suffering never knew greater lows.
You experienced it. Were affected by every moment of it. You are who you are today because of it.
The things that caused us pain were bad. But the fact that we were in pain? It’s just a fact we carry with us. It’s an experience that made us who we are. It’s a piece of us that, just like an S, we can choose to symbolize hope.
Because in the end, those painful experiences get to be whatever you can make of them. The tether of harm no longer needs to be all that ties us to what happened. Those experiences hurt you when they happened, but they don’t have to serve a master of pointless pain anymore.
Like Superman and Swamp Thing, we can integrate the pain they once caused us. We can choose what to do now that we see clearly. Pain awakens us at times — sometimes to make space for the joy that might come after.
The first step in that process is consuming as many queer and trans retellings of popular characters as possible. Fortunately, I have just the one for you to start with.
THE END
For my story, please read “I Am Trash”
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