Please welcome first-time contributor Loni, a survivor of long-term childhood sexual abuse. She battles complex PTSD and with that, depression and anxiety. Loni has made it her life’s mission to empower other survivors to overcome their circumstances. She is currently studying Child and Family Studies at Berea College. It is her dream to start a transitional home for survivors to begin to heal, and to help them recover their voices through various forms of therapy to create a beautiful, colorful world of empowerment and awareness.
About this photo: “I had a recurring nightmare of this teacup and the eruption that broke it for many years. In the dream, the tea cup set upon its saucer on a small round table, covered in a white lace cloth in the corner of my room. I rose up from my bed and saw the arrangement as the teacup made a sweet, tiny peeping sound. Milliseconds later, the walls started quaking and poured dirt and debris as mole-like tunnels trailed the walls all around the room. The tiny teacup trembled and screamed as it shattered to dust.
This nightmare is the first form of trauma I can recall. It was born from a night that my dad came into my bedroom, as I waited in bed for cuddles, screaming and picking up all he could throw, breaking my precious tea sets, windows, jewelry box among other trinkets in a rage as I screamed under the blankets.
I later found this surviving teacup which my mom had glued its bits back together. The damage was clearly impossible for her to fix.
This picture quite painfully depicts my life. My father shattering my delicacy, my mother trying to glue the family back together, hiding its flaws, ignoring the damages, and only I hold the true reality of the situation- irreparable damage, and a family who left me in pieces to hold together my pain and brokenness alone.”
Find more from Loni on Instagram @lady.wray
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