What happens when mankind takes everything away by its own hand?
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There are many threads that connect humankind to the outside world. There are many threads that connect one human being to another–and even more things that lend themselves to interconnectivity. Some of these things–blood, flesh and even bone–are visible with the naked eye. Others are not.
The human race has the ability to adapt and make its own connections at will. It’s part of what makes humanity so strong and resilient, but there’s something to be said about the flipside of that: when everything one knows of comfort is stripped away.
When we try to cover up the most exposed parts of ourselves, that’s the moment we become most vulnerable. The world may be able to the scars we wear, but only a few will ever know the stories behind them. We protect those scars as much as we can, for as long we can. Pain eventually catches up to us–and we come to the slow realization that we can no longer hide.Somewhere within that process, however, we learn how to wear our scars with dignity–and perhaps pride. We learn to say, “I’m going to be OK”, and come to terms with vulnerability itself. Maybe it doesn’t present itself in the most subtle of ways, but we see that vulnerability is in fact beautiful.
In the video above, singer and writer Darrian Amaker records herself as she recovers from an act of domestic violence, committed late last year in an attempt to take her life. She sings a song that she’d written while sitting in her hospital bed, with the hope that someone might see the video and connect with her song.
“A few days after thanksgiving this past year, my Love went straight psychotic and beat me brutally for ten hours. He had planned it out; I was supposed to die. I survived or escaped, whatever you want to call it, and spent four days in the hospital, eyes swollen shut, wondering why, wondering why,” Amaker wrote in a Facebook post following the attack.
She sent her video to The National Coalition Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) via Facebook shortly after writing the post. Again, she had hope that it might reach someone in need–but according to this article from Upworthy.com, she never expected what would happen next.
Representatives from NCADV saw her Facebook post, along with the video she recorded. Their response was included in a post written by the organization collectively:
“Too often in our culture, violence against women is not understood. These brave victims and survivors are bringing a new level of awareness — using technology and social media to help us understand their lives and share their experiences.”
Upworth.com contributor Laura Willard called Amaker’s original song “beautiful”, and urged others to take action after reading her story. it’s almost as if she had an angel waiting in the wings.
It’s hard to fathom that domestic violence is still occurring in this day and age. It’s difficult to think that man would stoop so low as to do harm to his own kind–and that he has the tools and ability to do so. If we don’t talk about the wrongs that are being committed, however. who will?
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Photo Credit: Steve Snodgrass/Flickr