How To Nurse Your Wound

The centaur Chiron, revered teacher of Greek heroes, was immortal. Hercules' poison tipped arrows were always fatal. When one of his arrows accidentally grazed Chiron, it created a wound that would never heal. Chiron, in excruciating pain, spent years trying to find a cure. He is the archetype of the wounded healer. 

We too have been wounded. Some injuries heal easily and are forgotten. Some are deep, but heal with time. Others are filled with shrapnel and excruciatingly painful. These injuries born of deep trauma never heal all the way. 

We have a choice in how we care for our deepest wounds, and this choice has a huge impact on our well­being. I learned this from Karen Hawkwood, who uses archetypes in her teachings. 

You have three options: 

You can become your wound. You let it grow and consume you. Your pain becomes your identity, and you are stuck. It's no fun to be you or to be around you. 

You can, like Chiron, seek a cure. You become obsessed with the latest guru, fad treatment or spiritual practice. You are the greyhound at the race track chasing an uncatchable rabbit. It leaves you hollow and exhausted. 

Or you can nurse your wound. Change the bandages often, apply ointment, remove the pus. The pain lessens and you learn to live with it. It doesn't define you, and you don't waste money and energy. 

Accept and care for your wound. It will free you.

Image credit: Chiron and Achilles by John Singer Sargent, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons