Finding Clarity Through Storytelling
Rose, my psychologist, suggested I read Women Who Run With The Wolves early on in my sessions with her. She felt it might resonate with me. It was in the space after I’d listed out all the things and people I had worries over, and Rose had handed me her ‘minefield’ of a mindmap, to choose what was mine to resolve and what were not my issues, to let what I could go.
Embracing Audiobooks for Healing
I found the paperback, which has some 550 pages, and felt that was too much. So, breathing out a little, I found the audiobook on Audible narrated by the author Clarissa Pinkola-Estes. Phew! It was only a few hours long, so it must only be a portion of the entire book. Happy with that time commitment, I loaded myself up with my phone and headset, slipped on my walking gear and sunglasses, and set out to walk at sunrise each day beside the river.
The Power of Metaphor
It took me one run through the audiobook to adapt to Clarissa’s storytelling style. My mind was also still spinning too fast, flicking in and out of paying attention. I was still so easily distracted by shiny, sparkly objects—a bird, the light on the water. Then I listened a second time, and the stories were enthralling. I was fully immersed in them; they opened my heart. I felt part of something bigger, like I had found my place in the world. I felt seen in a way that I cannot explain.
Clarissa’s storytelling and metaphors were wildly captivating, and I could visualise her characters in the stories. One metaphor, The Mistaken Zygote, came to mind this week. It aligns with the journey I and many others experienced as children, which we survived and walked out the other side to heal and thrive.
Surviving to Thriving
Clarissa says she usually shares this story with the women she works with. I know that it and her other metaphors helped me make sense of so much. I touched on it in Resolve, page 197, subsection ‘Baby steps towards thriving’, opening that section with Clarissa’s words:
‘Women who have experienced childhood trauma have a goal to become a survivor. Is survivor really the end result you want? Isn’t thriving a much richer goal to aim for?’
As I re-read the section of Clarissa’s book today, I remembered The Mistaken Zygote story was about moving beyond surviving to thrive. It’s a message that’s right for me right now. Perhaps it’ll be right for you too.
Download and Explore
You’ll find The Mistaken Zygote below to read here, or download and read at your leisure.
Feather Berkower, founder of Parenting Safe Children in the USA read Resolve this past week.
She did so, sharing intermittent progress reports via @resolvebyaliceperle Instagram messages. The team behind Alice Perle’s Resolve choose to be there beside the brave readers of Resolve. We are happy to receive a heartfelt update, a moment of venting rage (not directed at us, of course), lots of global air-hugs, or ‘I’m up to here’ with an image of the page. Resolve is about starting conversations on a hidden family and societal taboo. It’s an awkward and vulnerable subject to write about, and a courageous read to think about and take action on. No reader is left alone when reading a book shining the light on such a tough topic. Child victims and adult survivors know what being alone in such a lived experience feels like. We get it! We love words shared and the quality reviews received.
As long as children are suffering from sexual violations by the people they are expected to rely on and trust the most, in this case a sibling, I feel I must know about it. So I read the memoirs of colleagues and others to witness and learn.
Feather Berkower, Child Sexual Assault Prevention Educator at Parenting Safe Children, Colorado, USA
Resolve, by Alice Perle, is the story of one precious little girl trapped in silence by an older brother who repeatedly violates her body and spirit through sexual abuse. It is a deep dive into the dynamics that allow this type of abuse to occur under the noses of well-intentioned adults. If we are to prevent incest, we must first believe that it can happen in any type of family, and second be able to recognize the behaviors and dynamics among family members that may perpetuate it.
It behooves every single parent /caregiver and person who works professionally with children to learn about sibling sexual abuse so it can be prevented.
Thank you Alice for sharing your heart, vulnerability and healing with all of us through your memoir Resolve.
Have you already read Resolve?
If you found “Resolve” insightful, helpful or empowering, please consider dropping a rating or leaving a written review on Amazon. Your feedback helps other readers discover the transformative journey within its pages and supports survivors on their path to healing and empowerment. To leave a review, visit this “Resolve” product page on Amazon and click on “Write a customer review”. Alternatively, I know that more readers than not prefer to email me a review. I share those words with their name or anonymously on social media with their permission. To do that, please use this website’s Get In Touch form.
Shared with love,
Alice Perle
