Now it's my turn...

We are food and drink for one another.
There is no life without each other.
— Reb Tirzah Firestone

I had no idea when I wrote Wounds into Wisdom that I would be writing it for myself and my family to help us through a fresh trauma that befell us this summer. Our daughter Bri died suddenly last month. The pain from this unforeseen rupture was so blinding that I lost all bearings.

Words rarely reach the innermost spaces of tragedy. But love does. And love has flowed to us from all quarters of our lives. It has become clear to me that we are all in a big circle dance, and that it is my turn now to feel the blows of trauma and loss personally.

A dear friend flew in from out of town. He said to me: "I'm reading this great book about family trauma right now. It talks about how trauma lands in us and how it can reverberate through generations..."

I didn't get it at first and asked him to tell me more. He looked at me with loving eyes and said: "Tirzah, I was talking about your book. Maybe you should read it."

Coming out of the initial stages of shock and numbness, and living into our tragedy now, I have begun pondering how the work that came through me in Wounds into Wisdom can inform the healing journey that I — and so many of us — are traveling.

I am finding that the loss of our children, our loved ones, and even our dreams can be understood better when we see it in the context of our family history. So often pain is doubled because of past traumas—intergenerational patterns that reverberate in the present.

I am more committed now than ever to the potent alchemy of ancestral trauma healing for ourselves, our families, and our wider communities. I invite you to join me at my upcoming events below and on my online calendar.