Plenty. The book would make great reading for everyone who wants to become a better person. Once you know why you do the things you do, it's much easier to change.
Yes, the Hitler cat and baby. So my second biggest toe on the right side is crooked, and two of my kids have the same weird toe. I say to them, “you’re welcome.” It’s a little gift I gave them.
Great read. I find it fascinating to think about how animals have instincts for survival that aren’t necessarily as steeped in emotions like us humans but at the same time, how animals can also experience trauma that will affect how they interact with the world. I think about my two rescues Bo and Viggo and how previous owners/experiences shaped their relationship with certain environments, people, objects.
This is something I picked up going through EMDR therapy about 4 years ago - how trauma has this built in defense mechanism and how the mind/body are trying to protect us but oftentimes, our response to the trauma gets connected to negative habits/actions that can feed the trauma and can require our identity and interactions with others.
The more we can understand ourselves, the better we can understand others and have empathy for our emotions/actions.
An excellent essay about a complicated issue Tim, thank you. The generational imprint we arrived here with is unseen and usually unrecognized. I pooh-poohed the idea for decades until the last few years when I started to really take a look and own that some of my less desirable traits, opinions and ways of being have been passed down. It's interesting that even with that knowledge and being able to recognize it I can't always shift it...but I'm working on it.
Isn’t it interesting that we generally fall into two camps of people? One group wants to blame everything on somebody else, and they are all over the idea that their parents, society, ancestors, etc., are to blame for all of their problems. And then there are people like you and me, who take charge And then at that point we discount any idea that we might actually have to admit we have issues that we cannot control directly.
We cannot directly control, genetics, and effects from before we were even conscious. All we can do is mitigate their effects based on our actions now, and we can’t take the correct actions unless we know that those forces are acting against us. So that’s why this information is so important, because it gives us a chance to aim ourselves in the right direction.
Tim, I totally loved that book! As someone who has mental illness on both sides of my family going back 3 generations, I 100% think that trauma is inherited. My mom, her sister and I all suffered with severe eating disorders. And many of my family members experienced trauma, especially my grandparents during the war.
You've written a great article here, and I think you've done an excellent job of making something very complicated easy to understand.
That’s a good point, Mac, about empathy. Even considering that someone else is acting out mental or genetic programming lets us cut them some slack and see things from their shoes.
We have had rescue dogs that were so traumatized they never totally recovered for their entire lives. Trauma really gets in there.
So interesting. By coincidence, I read the book 'It Didn't Start with You' a few months ago and it was fascinating. Nicely summarised.
Thanks, Maria. Did you see anything in your own experience that seemed to fit this theory of passed-on epigenetics?
Plenty. The book would make great reading for everyone who wants to become a better person. Once you know why you do the things you do, it's much easier to change.
Epigenetics fascinates me. As the granddaughter of war survivors, I am certain I carry things in me that affect me in ways I can't even imagine.
If you spend a little time considering it, your intuition will point out the carry over. It might be worth some self exploration.
Most definitely.
First, that cat meme is hilarious. Second, this was a fascinating read. I
Yes, the Hitler cat and baby. So my second biggest toe on the right side is crooked, and two of my kids have the same weird toe. I say to them, “you’re welcome.” It’s a little gift I gave them.
I wish "crooked" was limited to just one toe, but no, there are more than one.
Great article Tim. It makes me realize how little I know about epigenetics.
There’s definitely a lot to learn about how our bodies developed and are influenced.
For sure!
No way...ha!!
Great read. I find it fascinating to think about how animals have instincts for survival that aren’t necessarily as steeped in emotions like us humans but at the same time, how animals can also experience trauma that will affect how they interact with the world. I think about my two rescues Bo and Viggo and how previous owners/experiences shaped their relationship with certain environments, people, objects.
This is something I picked up going through EMDR therapy about 4 years ago - how trauma has this built in defense mechanism and how the mind/body are trying to protect us but oftentimes, our response to the trauma gets connected to negative habits/actions that can feed the trauma and can require our identity and interactions with others.
The more we can understand ourselves, the better we can understand others and have empathy for our emotions/actions.
An excellent essay about a complicated issue Tim, thank you. The generational imprint we arrived here with is unseen and usually unrecognized. I pooh-poohed the idea for decades until the last few years when I started to really take a look and own that some of my less desirable traits, opinions and ways of being have been passed down. It's interesting that even with that knowledge and being able to recognize it I can't always shift it...but I'm working on it.
Isn’t it interesting that we generally fall into two camps of people? One group wants to blame everything on somebody else, and they are all over the idea that their parents, society, ancestors, etc., are to blame for all of their problems. And then there are people like you and me, who take charge And then at that point we discount any idea that we might actually have to admit we have issues that we cannot control directly.
We cannot directly control, genetics, and effects from before we were even conscious. All we can do is mitigate their effects based on our actions now, and we can’t take the correct actions unless we know that those forces are acting against us. So that’s why this information is so important, because it gives us a chance to aim ourselves in the right direction.
Tim, I totally loved that book! As someone who has mental illness on both sides of my family going back 3 generations, I 100% think that trauma is inherited. My mom, her sister and I all suffered with severe eating disorders. And many of my family members experienced trauma, especially my grandparents during the war.
You've written a great article here, and I think you've done an excellent job of making something very complicated easy to understand.
Thanks, Genevieve. I hope you and your family have found ways to cope and get healthy.
That’s a good point, Mac, about empathy. Even considering that someone else is acting out mental or genetic programming lets us cut them some slack and see things from their shoes.
We have had rescue dogs that were so traumatized they never totally recovered for their entire lives. Trauma really gets in there.