When we have lived through trauma, loss, betrayal, illness, oppression, or other forms of profound suffering, it can be tempting to look back and try to make the suffering meaningful. Spiritual traditions sometimes encourage us to see our wounds as gifts, as though the terrible things that happened to us were somehow necessary so that we could become who we were meant to be. I do not believe we need to do that. Trauma does not make us spiritually special. We do not need to be

There are times in life when the spiritual practices, insights, and understandings that have carried us for years are no longer enough. This does not necessarily mean that something has gone wrong. Sometimes the opposite is true. We have reached a threshold. A death, betrayal, illness, relationship ending, career change, or other upheaval may unsettle the structure of a life we thought we understood. We may find ourselves repeating patterns despite years of inner work. A spir