How to Avoid The Jellyfish & Be A Starfish: Healing From Word-Wounds

Words sting. And you know they do. Perhaps a sting doesn’t even begin to describe what words from an abusive partner (parent, boss, friend, family member) have done to you.

Psychology Today reports that “…emotionally abused women were more likely to report poor physical health than other women, and their reported ailments were strikingly similar to those affecting physically abused women.” This fact should not be news to us but it is good to be reminded of the power of words and the necessity for healing.

The impact of words from abusive partners has been a theme in my own life and most certainly in the life of my clients. I can’t think of one client (counselling or coaching) that hasn’t been adversely affected by the soul-damaging words of an intimate partner (or person in a position of perceived or real power and authority over them).

And because I’m a person-centered and solution-focussed counsellor, I was recently inspired to design a tool that I could use and offer to individuals and professionals to guide clients through steps to healing these word-wounds. More about this later.

According to Wikipedia, “The stinging cells used by jellyfish to subdue their prey can also injure humans. Many thousands of swimmers are stung every year, with effects ranging from mild discomfort to serious injury or even death; small box jellyfish are responsible for many of these deaths.”

When I read this description of a jellyfish, it rang true for me as a solid analogy with regard to how abusive language and words can sting us as we navigate the waters of relational life. As with the sting of a jellyfish, cruel words can injure and harm us - from mild discomfort to serious lifelong injury.

Then I noticed the word "subdue" in the above definition. Subdue means to "bring under control." Whoa! That lit me up. My mind raced as recollections flooded my memory of words my father and partners would use to "bring me under control." Words that killed my self-image, chipped away at my self-esteem, destroyed my spirit, killed my dreams, and put me in neutral because I bought into their lies. And I allowed them to have power over me. I don't say this as a shameful thing but a statement of fact.

Never again. I know better now. And yes, my favourite Maya Angelou quote once again fits perfectly here.  

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” —Maya Angelou.

The awareness of the power of words from our past and how it informs our present is the first step toward healing and strengthening.

If verbal abuse is not dealt with by being put in its place and replaced by truth, these damaging words and messages become what we believe to be true about ourselves (even though they are lies). These have a tendency to accumulate (because they are left to fester and grow into every area of our life - future relationships, life decisions, career choices) and sometimes can become life-threatening, even causing death.

It is imperative to note that it’s not "just the words" that can pack a punch but the messenger of them. Let me give an example:

If a driver in traffic were to call me “crazy” because of a perceived error in my driving habits (or I just made a mistake - it happens) or because they woke up on the wrong side of the bed, it might sting for a few seconds then dissipate by the time I reach my destination. It's done and forgotten, except for a good 'ol road rage story around the water cooler or Facebook post. However, if an intimate partner/husband to whom I entrust with my heart to cherish and love me, and with whom I share a home (a place supposed to be shelter and safety from the world) and a bed with follows me around the house and accuses me of being “crazy” and yells that into my face as the froth of rage forms around his mouth - that causes a different degree of soul damage.

Same word, different messenger, different circumstances.

Further damage or re-injury can happen when we attempt to share our hurtful experience with someone. Have you ever shared a hurtful message with someone only to be judged for your over-sensitivity and it be completely written off, discounted or (possibly worse) one-upmanship? Has someone completely invalidated the event to the point you were wishing you'd never shared? I’m guessing that’s happened to you. So this is when you dig deep(er). The knowing that it affected you, regardless of how someone else reacted to it, is the beginning of the work to healing from it. We don't need anyone else (although it's nice) to give us their stamp of approval of what to hurt over and what not to. If it hurt or affected you, then let's work with that. No questions asked. No judgment. 

If stuffed into the depths of our souls, over time hurtful, wounding words can cause us death, both figuratively and literally. Damaging words can throw us into a tailspin of despair and confusion, can cause us to give something up that we love, and dreams to die. The word-wounds are meant to break us down, put us in a place of disadvantage, subdue us, chip away and destroy our self-worth and self-confidence. They are meant to confuse and wear us down to the point that we feel worthless and lost in the lies and wreckage of what was once our self-esteem and dreams.

If we don’t have the awareness, resources, tools, or a support system to counter the attack(s), they inevitably get stuffed and stored away into our memory banks. And the tapes surface at the most awkward of times, often playing on repeat, and make us further susceptible to more stings and re-injury by future partners. It’s a toxicity that plagues our minds and can affect our lives, our choices, our mental, physical and spiritual health.

Whew! Now the good news. 

In a world of jellyfish, be a starfish. Here’s an excerpt from my website about the starfish. Take a moment and take this in.

The Starfish or Sea Star is a highly unique, intricate, and amazing creature found in salt water and in many shapes, sizes, and colours. More than 2,000 species worldwide live in environments from tropical habitats to great depths of the seafloor.

Sea Stars are survivors and are capable of regeneration. Beyond their typical symmetrical ‘star’ shape with five arms, some species have ten, twenty, even forty arms (called Sun Stars). To survive a predator, they will shed a limb or even a large portion of their body, yet have an incredible capacity to regenerate limbs, and sometimes, entire bodies.

For more, click here.

Starfish are one of the few creatures that can regenerate. It’s one of the many reasons I love the symbolism of the starfish for my life and for counselling. I believe in restoration and renewal and healing. We may disagree on the source of that power but it’s a belief that is a foundation of my life and business.

Be encouraged by the starfish. Even though a predator from your past has taken a limb or two or three away, just like the starfish, you can heal and regenerate.

The other thing that works about this analogy is that limbs don’t regenerate in a magical instant - there is no quick fix. Regeneration comes with awareness, time and effort. And that can be counted on.

To avoid the jellyfish, we need to be able to identify them. Get clear on who is safe and who is not. Then we can make better choices of what waters to swim in and which areas to avoid. And, if you're swimming through the waters of life and you come across a jellyfish, you, being a starfish, will have the scars to prove you have withstood their stings before and a knowing you will experience healing again. Better yet, you will be able to avoid their sting altogether.

If you’d like a copy of my downloadable workbook Reframing Negative Messages: A Workbook For Healing From Past Hurts, please e-mail me and ask to be added to my e-newsletter list so you know when I release it later this month. To help continue my study and work, I will be asking a small fee for the download. This is a way you can support the work that I am doing in my singles' wellness initiatives and with others on their journey to healing and wholeness, while you have access to a timeless tool for life and healing.

Because every one counts,


Melanie Hart
Counsellor, Coach, and Singles' Wellness Facilitator


To Book Melanie for more information, for a counselling or coaching session, or for a speaking engagement, e-mail melaniejoyhart@icloud.com.

Defining Single & Mad Respect For The Spinster (Don't Judge)

I consider it both a privilege and an honour to hear the stories of others. It has become my goal to listen with the intent to hear; an area I've improved in through study, mindful intention, and hundreds of hours of practice. And when I hear, I get to peek into a person's heart. These stories from clients, feedback from the (Singles' Wellness) survey, and recent conversations with singles have strengthened my resolve to nurture, serve, and love this specific community.

Embracing Single is an initiative to help singles in their single season. Its purpose is to inspire them to a heightened sense of self (individuation) while concurrently helping them define, seek out, and create nurturing communities for life-giving connection.

The more I research and study singleness, have conversations with singles, and experience singleness through my own lived experience, the more intriguing the subject becomes.

Try just defining single(ness)/singledom, for example. It is a legal status with many complexities by definition and continues to morph. The term is also used as social status, and unfortunately oft carries negative connotations as if being "alone", "single", "uncoupled", or "unmarried" is a negative thing. The default mentality in our history (especially for women), our culture and sub-cultures, is that singleness is a negative, less desirable, and a less respected status.

And if the over-arching mentality is that being a single is "less than" (as opposed to being a couple) than it's no surprise those sentiments turn into actions and why singles feel like second class citizens in families and in "church family" settings. For example, singles are expected (just because they are single) to be free to volunteer countless hours, yet this same demographic is usually left without a group of "their own" to be connected to in family-centric church culture. This statement is direct feedback from the Singles Wellness Survey as well as discussions I've had with single women. I intend to address this as part of my Singles Wellness Initiative with Pastors and Church/Ministry Leaders. My message is not one of criticism but more along the lines of "let's do better" and embrace and nurture singles in our church culture.

Time out.

Can we just take a minute to rethink how we treat the single person in our midst? I am not implying that "they" are helpless and cannot fend for themselves. In fact, many singles are fantastically individuated and confident, great with boundaries, saying "yes" and "no" like a champ when asked to volunteer, and feel safe and secure when in a group of couples, or in a room full of families. Others are not (yet). So I'm speaking out for them.

There is an invisibility factor when you are single, especially if you are a single woman. (I promise to research further to see if it's as true for men). Google it! Psychology Today. It's everywhere. I'll address "invisible" in a future blog.

Defining Single.

I want to define "single" for the purpose of the Singles' Wellness Initiative, Embracing Single. We may find that we don't agree on the definition of single. That's okay. I am committed to approaching people with "unconditional positive regard" which I believe is the most non-judgemental and loving approach I can take as a coach, a counsellor, a conversation facilitator, and in my non-professional life too. I must, therefore, be open to hearing someone else's perspective and definition of singleness. And, I might, therefore, agree, or agree to disagree with you. We can still be friends, peers, colleagues... I hope.

As I engage with more singles such as the singles' Meetup group in Victoria (Embracing Single: Conversations for Singles in Greater Victoria), defining single may be a great first topic to tackle for the purpose of clarity and as an opportunity to learn from others.

Here is how I define "single" for the purpose of an Embracing Single group, workshop, or program (and I reserve the right to refine and redefine as I go and as a life-long learner).

An "Embracing Single" is:

-  an individual who is not in a committed (or even a casual) relationship; that is, they are not cohabitating and/or engaging in a sexual relationship with another individual;
- an individual who is financially self-supporting;
- an individual who is not married (separated, divorced, or never married);
- an individual choosing to remain single for a season or a lifetime;
- an individual who is taking time to work on individuation and is not dating or pursuing a relationship during this single season (for a determined or even undetermined amount of time).

According to Wikipedia, "In legal definitions for interpersonal status, a single person is someone who is unmarried, not in a relationship and not part of a civil union."

Based on the above definition of an Embracing Single, I want to inspire single individuals (especially those who have not experienced singleness as an adult due to being being married young and who is now divorced and for those who have experienced mutliple relationships throughout their adulthood without time and space in between to heal or individuate) to see the opportunities and the possibilities that a single season can bring, whether they choose to remain single or couple again.

I want to be a part of a movement to change the narrative around singleness to that of a positive one. To do so, we must start with the belief system of single individuals. I hope to help singles feel embraced, seen, empowered, freed from the pressures of society/family to couple for the sake of coupling, and most of all feel understood by this initiative!

The Spinster, The Old Maid, and The Bachelor

A spinster, an old maid, and a bachelor walk into a bar... okay that's not the beginning of a joke... but it is a joke that the verbiage about women who are unmarried is far more derogatory than men who are unmarried.

Check out this definition of "Spinster."

According to Wikipedia, "Spinster is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women should marry. It could also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry.[1] The term originally denoted a woman whose occupation was to spin. A synonymous but more pejorative term is old maid. The closest equivalent term for males is 'bachelor', but this generally does not carry the same pejorative connotations in reference to age and perceived desirability in the marriage."

Let's talk old maid and bachelor first, then we'll check out the spinster.

The "bachelor" in pop culture seems to describe an "unmarried" man who is free, cool, eligble, prime marriage material - quite celebrated - yet the "unmarried" woman is an "old maid." I do note here that there is a TV show called "The Bachelorette", which seems to level the playing field a little with regard to gendre and terminology. Where it falls apart is that this plays into the notion that this "prime candidate" must "couple" to be truly happy and live happily ever after. I imagine if they had called it "The Spinster" or "The Old Maid" it wouldn't have gone over so well. I'm counting on the millennials to never use terms like "old maid." Let's all put the "old maid" term out to pasture where it belongs!

Now for "Spinster."

Recently I was in conversation with a person (you know who you are) and they were describing a woman who had never been married using the "s" word! Immediately I jumped to the unmarried-no-children-woman's defence and declared, "She's not a spinster! She just chose to Embrace Single(ness)!"

Some quick research and I've found some things to (re)consider with regard to that term that I thought was derogatory. Let's glimpse at the history and then you can decide for yourselves (especially you single women out there) whether you'd like to be referred to as a spinster or not! I'll warn you, it's growing on me. I would put money on the fact that if I asked for a show of hands to see how many would be comfortable with being referred to as a "spinster" (before learning the history and context) that most women would reject the use of the term because they too view it as a negative term for (ahem) mature, unmarried women.

The more I read about the word "spinster" the more I might embrace being in that category myself. In the historical sense, it was a term to describe an "unmarried" woman with no children. That doesn't apply to me as I have been married and I do have a child. However, I found it to be an interesting term when it comes to the individuation process. It could be argued that these women "the spinsters of the 1800s" were highly individuated as opposed to those who married young (due to pressures of the day - society, culture, religion). Here's how I'm processing the term "spinster" as it aligns with my thoughts on the importance of individuation:

Spinsters...

- took full responsibility for their individuality and (financial) independence and took on work - outside the home - which wasn't the "cultural norm" for women living in the 1800s.

 - spun wool to provide for themselves instead of depending on a man for financial stability (marrying young as others might have in that day).

- were possibly more authentic, sincere, or true to themselves remaining single rather than marrying because it was the thing to do

"One 19th-century editorial in the fashion publication Peterson's Magazine encouraged women to remain choosy in selecting a mate — even at the price of never marrying. The editorial, titled "Honorable Often to Be an Old Maid", advised women: "Marry for a home! Marry to escape the ridicule of being called an old maid? How dare you, then, pervert the most sacred institution of the Almighty, by becoming the wife of a man for whom you can feel no emotions of love, or respect even?"[8]

Mad respect. (That's me trying to be hip and use urban slang for my millennial peeps.) Spinsters are so much cooler than I once thought they were. They are independent thinkers, hard workers, possibly fearless! That's not how I would have described them a week ago. And spinsters really get hip in my books if you think of them as women of mystery! Read on.

Here's another great quote from the article, "In her 2015 book, Spinster, Making a Life of One's Own, Kate Bolick has written, "To me, the spinster is self-reliant and inscrutable. We think we know what the wife is up to and what the mother is up to but the single woman is mysterious. I like that mystery. So the term is a useful way to hold onto the idea of autonomy that can get so easily lost inside of marriage or motherhood."[14]

Autonomous. Self-reliant. Self-aware. Independent. Fearless. Mysterous. And this, my friends, is part of individuation! So my little ditty, "Wait! Don't Date! Individuate! might be something those 19th Century Spinsters may have said to me - had I bothered to stop and ask. And for my millennial friends, I've coined the phrase, "After graduation! Individuation!" No matter what stage of life you find yourself in, I truly believe that individuation is key for single wellness, not to mention the value it brings into future coupling!

Move over hipsters. Is there room for us spinsters? I think so. There's much more to learn from the spinster. I'll keep digging and learning and defining and listening. To be continued.

Because every one counts.

Dear Younger Me: Extending Grace & Hope for Your Past, Present & Future

If you could write to your younger self, what would you say? What do you know now that you wish your younger self had known? And when you hear that inner narrative to your younger self, is it one of self-deprecation, shame, and contempt, or is it nurturing, compassionate, kind, and undergirded with empathy? Answering these 3 questions would be a good indicator of where you are at with your emotional wellness.

To embrace any life season, including but not exclusive to the season of singleness, I believe it is optimal for us to first reconcile our past with ourselves which helps us individuate.

I have a favourite song called "Dear Younger Me by MercyMe." As a songwriter, I admire the uniqueness and depth of the song. The lyrics reach into my soul's journey as they take a compassionate look back at the choices and challenges of a younger self while encouraging the present self. The song explores the choices and decisions we made then with what we knew to do then rather than the context of what we'd know to do today. This plays beautifully with the quote from Maya Angelou that I used in my previous blog. When this happens (that is, a gentle flow in theme as I create, write, and learn), I know to pay attention.

Lately, I'm able to look back at my own life from a higher viewpoint. And it looks like something is really coming together from the piles of patchworks and bits and pieces of material that has been my lived experiences. Before my viewpoint was low, obscured, and disjointed. All I could see was a mess of odds and ends of clashing colours and patterns of fabrics, like quilting squares started that didn't seem to connect with the others. And all I could feel was the cutting and ripping of the threads of the fabric while the needles and pins barely held me together... Now I think I'm becoming a beautiful quilt!

So if I were to write a Dear Younger Me letter, it would include the promise that I was going to come together one day - even though it didn't feel like it when life felt unlivable, joyless, even hopeless.

Can you see your quilt yet or are you still in the pins and needles and holding it together stage?

Permit me to take the Dear Younger Me theme even further. Let's take it into our future and imagine what we are saying to today's self which will be our younger selves in 3 months, 3 years, or 3 decades. Let's plan to write, "Well-done kiddo! You did what you knew to do with the support, resources, and skills you had then!"

As I tune in to my lived experiences, I experience the melodies in my mind like an 80s mixed tape. My songs (and in my case quite literally) are raw and dramatic and big ballads of trial and triumph, love and depression, sorrow and joy. In my case, as a singer/songwriter, I've literally sung out of those experiences and feelings. And now I say, "Well-done kiddo! Your life songs were to be shared and are now part of the patchwork of the beautiful quilt that is your life!" I might even say, "Keep going kiddo! Imagine what your quilt is going to look like 30 years from now!"

As I have progressed into the ability to extend compassion and kindness - even empathy to self (something I had an abundance of for others but lacked in extending to myself) - I think the exercise of writing to our younger selves is quite a great concept. Journalling love letters to ourselves could be such a healing experience! This exercise can help us grieve losses, help us heal from past hurt, and make healthy endings for things we would like to leave in our past so we can move forward with our future. It can also train our minds (or retrain or unlearn) to catch ourselves doing something right when many of us dwell on what we've done wrong. Doing this helps us in the here and now by bringing our present into perspective. Take it that next step and we are making good choices now so that our letters to ourselves from a future self are going to be epic!

It isn't like me to ask others or teach others to do something I haven't done myself. So I am going to try a few examples from my own life that you could try:

1. Dear Younger Me, You are going to go through a few relationships in your adult life before you learn to truly embrace yourself in a single season. You didn't make great choices because you wanted so desperately to be loved. I totally get that. I'd forgive you because you probably think you need to be forgiven but there's nothing to forgive. You didn't know how much you were loved without the need to look for it in less than ideal relationships. You did what you thought you needed to do. And it's okay. It turns out that you were loved all along, you just couldn't see or feel it for yourself. And that's okay too. You'll get it. You'll learn to love yourself more and you'll love others even more than you do now. It will just take time. Hang in there.

2. Dear Younger Me, You don't know this yet but you will discover one day that your life experiences that are hard and painful now are going to help you write songs (and blogs) that will touch the lives of others. You will have a season of songwriting and singing and sharing your experiences and it will take you to places you never imagined going - in a good way! And by the way, I also want you to know that you are loved just as you are. Some will love you because you performed for them and will withhold love when you stop. Others that should love you will discourage you, shame you, and walk away from you when you do. You'll figure it all out and be stronger for it. Most importantly, you don't need to perform in any way or for anyone to be loved. You just are.

3. Dear Younger Me, You are brave and strong. You were incredibly resourceful and resilient - and you are a survivor. Looking at younger you makes me proud. You were so brave without knowing how brave you were. You couldn't even see all you have braved to fight through your darkest of times. You couldn't yet see the perseverance it would take to keep going. Well, I do. I see you. You are not only brave and strong, you still loved others well even in your pain. I admire you for that and that is a younger me that I am taking with me into the future.

When I went to try the above exercise for myself, it was at first harder than I thought. It's a very intimate exercise. The self-affirmation part - I'm not gonna lie - felt uncomfortable. It may have been uncomfortable for you to read. How can this woman write those things about herself? Many of us were programmed not to embrace affirmation yet we were starved for it. That's when we must now parent ourselves as adults. Self-affirmation doesn't make us prideful (wrong-thinking legalistic religious indoctrination lies just beneath the surface for many of us). What it does do is build up healthy self-esteem or healthy ego that we need to move forward in a healthy way. So go ahead! If you need permission to self-affirm - I'm giving it to you! The Bible tells us to "Love our neighbours as OURSELVES." I think that's pretty clear and gives this church girl a green light for learning to love myself. It's just that a lot of us do a better job at loving others more than ourselves. Yes, I digress but this was a necessary digression!

The steps I took to come up with the above points were to remember the ways I have been hard on myself for decisions I made that I felt stuck in, or ashamed of, or lost in, and then to extend grace to myself in those situations. If you need help in doing this exercise, I'm wondering if you can think of it like this:

Extend Grace (to younger self) followed by Hope (to present and future self). Grace for what you need to forgive yourself for (not knowing or knowing how to do differently) and Hope for a better future based on the decisions you can now make moving forward. But it doesn't end there. This process is cyclical. We will always want to embrace Grace and embrace Hope for self as we will inevitably stumble our way into our future. Try having both like two walking polls by your side propelling you down life's path. Keep them handy!

And so we embrace our season knowing this is only part of the beautiful quilt that will be our life. And remember to climb up high and look down, gaze across and over the patchworks of your life - it's great perspective, past, present, and future. And I hope you can see the Grace and feel the Hope of it all on the journey.

Please write and share your "Dear Younger Me" excerpts in the comments below.

Because Every One Counts,

Melanie