Summary

Survivors of trauma possess the most powerful superpowers: empathy, love, and kindness, which they use to uplift others despite their own hardships.

Abstract

The article reframes the concept of superpowers, moving away from traditional notions of physical strength and invincibility to highlight the profound abilities of empathy, love, and kindness that survivors of trauma embody. These individuals, through their writing and interactions, transform their painful experiences into beacons of hope for others. The author reflects on the strength it takes to articulate traumatic experiences and the subsequent choice to use that strength to help others feel less alone. Survivors, as the true superheroes, demonstrate resilience by not only overcoming their own struggles but also by extending compassion to others, proving that their abusers were wrong in underestimating their potential.

Opinions

Superpowers are redefined beyond physical prowess to include emotional strengths like empathy, love, and kindness.
Survivors' vulnerability in sharing their stories is a source of power and connection, not weakness.
The ability to empathize and offer support to others is a testament to the survivor's resilience and strength of mind.
Choosing to help others in similar situations is seen as a powerful act of defiance against past abuse and a way to foster hope.
The author believes that the capacity to show kindness, especially after experiencing deep pain, is an extraordinary superpower.
Survivors are considered superheroes for their ability to emerge from darkness and guide others towards the light, proving their abusers wrong about their perceived weakness.

Why Survivors Have The Most Powerful Superpowers

It’s not why you think

Asked at work “If you could have a superpower what would it be?”

Thinking for a bit I said, “invisibility so I could get peace from the kids” (insert canned laughter). I want to be invisible, to hide from the world when it’s too hard to be present. Bit awkward to announce that on a work call.

This interaction and a prompt from Write Here made me think about the concept of superpowers.

People look at them as something that makes you stronger than the other guy.

Faster than a speeding bullet. Leaping tall buildings in a single bound. Stopping bullets with a chiselled chest.

Superheroes are my jam. Love them but I have a different take.

There are so many survivors on this platform. Reading their heartbreaking stories has given me all the feels, sometimes all at once.

I read all the raw, vulnerable words tumbling off the page. Feel every word deep in my soul. Imagine the kind of strength it takes to articulate these stories.

Although beautiful as this is, this isn’t our superpower. It is much more surprising than that.

When I started to write, pour out all my rage and pain on the blank page. I didn’t understand. The vulnerability, power and pieces of you that you have to give. Each essay/article/art piece is a trigger.

Despite being in the worse situations we could have been in. Should have never been in.

We work to raise other people not push them down. Using our pain to soothe others and make them understand they are not alone. That we’ve got them and they’ve got this.

Survivors superpowers are empathy, love and kindness.

Not a superpower?

Think again.

The strength of mind it takes to use a horrendous situation to ensure other people have hope. That’s as powerful as it gets. These people have seen the bottom. Not only clawing their way back often alone. Recognising the pain in others. Stopping on the way to lend a hand, give an ear.

It would be easy to hate the world. Make other people suffer as we have. Why should we care? We were hurt, alone and made to feel we weren’t enough.

We don’t do that because no one understands better than us.

Understand how it feels like to be broken and alone. To have your trust ripped away from you and shattered. Your heart stomped on and left for dead.

We know what it takes to climb up from that pain, to doubt your decisions and not be okay. How long and hard this journey will be.

So we choose to use our superpowers for good.

We show people the kindness we weren’t shown.

We show people that they are never alone.

We show they won’t be broken forever.

That no matter what there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

We give people what we needed.

We do that despite how we were treated because it’s the right thing to do.

We do this despite our abusers, we become powerful because they never believed we could be.

We are the superheroes of our stories.