HEALING ISN'T LINEAR

Healing is not linear. Some wounds stay with you long after the moment has passed, and learning how to live, heal, and keep going can become its own journey.

In this deeply emotional episode of Life’s Deceit, Iesha opens up about surviving trauma, living with PTSD, battling suicidal thoughts, and rebuilding her life after an experience that changed everything.

She speaks honestly about the lasting effects of trauma, the difficulty of feeling safe again, struggling with sleep, and the reality of healing while still carrying painful memories. But through it all, Iesha shares how choosing to keep going, seeking help, and finding purpose through helping children has slowly transformed her life.

This conversation is raw, vulnerable, painful, inspiring, and necessary for anyone navigating healing, mental health, trauma recovery, or trying to rediscover themselves after survival.

Topics Discussed:

• Trauma & PTSD
  
  
• Mental health & healing
  
  
• Survival & resilience
  
  
• Childhood wounds & identity
  
  
• Suicidal thoughts & recovery
  
  
• Finding purpose after pain
  
  
• Breaking silence & reclaiming your voice
  
  
• Healing through helping others
  
  

If this conversation touched you, please like, comment, subscribe, and share with someone who may need it.

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#LifesDeceitPodcast #HealingJourney #PTSD #TraumaRecovery #MentalHealth #LegacyByChoice

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Some stories are hard to tell. Not because they're unclear, but because they were never meant to happen. And some silences were never chosen. This is not just a conversation. This is accountability. Welcome back to Lice to Seat. This is season four, Legacy by Choice. Chosen, not inherited. I'm your host, Jen Simpson. Welcome, welcome, welcome. I hope you're having a beautiful morning, afternoon, night, wherever you are in the world. I pray that you guys are continuing to pour into yourselves and show up for yourselves and really know what self-love is. Today, we're not just talking about success. We're talking about truth. We're talking about the healing. We're talking about breaking cycles that were never ours to carry. We are talking about the journey of healing. The healing is not a destination, but it's a lifestyle. And when the healing journey is still continuing, what do we do? We see the perfection, but healing is not a destination. Today's episode requires presence. Your presence. Because this is not just about what someone went through, it's about what they chose to do after and what they continue to do. Our guest today is a phenomenal woman. She's a teacher, Aisha Campbell. She's an educator and someone who has spent years pouring into children and creating spaces of safety, love, and expression. But behind all those amazing things and the titles is a story that speaks to something much deeper. In why she became an educator, survival, silence, and the courage to speak anyway. The courage to continue speaking even when your voice feels like it's shrinking. She's here not for attention, but for awareness. And that matters. Aisha Campbell is telling her story even when imposter syndrome is still floating around in her head. Even though she's still on her healing journey, she chose to continue to show up, continue to share her story, and continue to empower other women to speak their truth, to be the justice, to be the verdict, even when they didn't get the justice in a courtroom. So without further ado, please help me welcome Aisha Campbell to the Lice to Seeds platform. Aisha, thank you so much. This interview is long overdue, but I'm so happy that you are still present, alive, and well, and still looking stunning. Thank you. And here to grace the Lice to Seeds platform. This season is Legacy by Choice, chosen, not inherited. And the most greatest blessing of life is to know that you went through an experience in your life, but you chose not to let that experience shape you. You chose to not let that experience be the voice of the legacy that you're building, but to use that experience as a stepping stone into what you are building. For our listeners who are not familiar with you, I want to start by asking you: can you take us to where you are right now and the emotions that you're feeling currently?

SPEAKER_02 3:30

Um, where I'm at right now, I am in a decent spot. And it's decent. I'm trying to move on to stable um with my mental health stuff because um the the incident at the school, even though it happened in 2010, it still had a big effect on me mentally. And one of the biggest things that it has is me not sleeping. I wake up in the middle of the night, not really sleeping for no more than two hours because I I'm still seeing their faces and everything. And you know, when you lack sleep for a long amount of time, you know, everything is not what it seems. It's like your mood is messed up, everything is messed up, even the air you breathe feel like it's it's messing up because you did not get that extra hour of sleep. But other than that, I feel like I'm okay. I'm in a good place mentally and physically. I'm just fighting the sleep thing of not seeing the boy's face when I wake up or in my sleep. So once I get past that, I might be on the path I want to go on and be on.

SPEAKER_00 4:48

The reason why I chose to ask you that question first, because a lot of times we see people doing amazing things in life. We see people speaking, we see people telling their stories, and we believe that, oh, they're healed. Oh, they're doing, they're fine. And you were supposed to be in last season. Breaking generational cycles is a lifestyle, but you're here, like you see by choice. I ask that question because I want people to see that when you're healing, it's not a destination, it's a journey, it's a continuation. Some days you wake up, you may not feel your best, but in turn, you make a choice to continue going, continue working on yourself.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

Yes, just keep pushing on. Even when you don't feel like you don't have the strength to push on, you just push on, go another 24 hours, you know, before you feel like giving up, give yourself that 24 hours.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Give yourself that 24 hours. And I love that you said that. And I hope that our listeners will receive it. Give yourself the 24 hours, give yourself the grace, because things don't just happen with a snap of the finger. It takes time, it takes the work, it takes the intention for you to say, today I'm not feeling well, I'm gonna rest, and I'll try again tomorrow. I want you to take us back to your story, your experience, and what happened for you for the listeners that are not too familiar with your story.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

So February 2010, Valentine's Day weekend, it actually happened on February 14th. Well, 13th slash 14th. The 13th, I went to a party that I was told there's gonna be other girls there, and I just need to relax. So while I'm in the dorm with these guys, I'm the only girl there, and I know in hindsight when people hear me tell my story, they're like, common sense tell you to run. But I'm young, just out of high school, my family background wasn't strong, so I felt like I would be intercepted with these guys. So while they were waiting for me, they were trying to help me calm down, they gave me a drink. The drink was full of so many drugs, and I remember it didn't taste right. So I went to the bathroom, I called one of my friends, and I also called my mom, and I told them that this drink they gave me didn't taste right, and I don't feel good, and they kept telling me I just need to get out, like I need to find a way out. So on my way coming out of the bathroom, um, another guy came out. He like, hey, I know you're not feeling good. Come in here and lay down in my room, you know. So I go in his room, I follow him to his room. He had 13 guys in there, and they made me do things against my will because they had the door blocked. They said, if you want to get out of this room, you're gonna do A, B, C, and D. So I did A, B, C, and D because while I was doing A, B, C, and D, they were moving away from the door, and that was my chance to run out. So when I ran out, I ran into another bathroom. And I was standing on top of the toilet because I didn't want them to see my feet. But this one big dude, he came in, he he opened that door like he was like the FBR police, and he dragged me out that bathroom. And he was dragging me to another room. And this is the last time I fought back. Um, while he was bringing me to that room, I was pulling back, and he was pulling me forward to the point where he let go and I hit my head on a brick wall. And I got a traumatic brain injury from it, and when you touch my forehead, you can even feel the dent. So when I was in that room, I was completely blacked out, but my body, even to this day, it felt everything that them boys were doing to my body. And I remember when I came to, I was naked beside a washing machine in a fetal position, crying for my mom. And then I remember passing back out. Then when I came to again, I was in the hospital. And the EMT and everybody just standing around me. They was like, we thought you were dying because we had to keep reviving you the whole time to the hospital. So after they left, I thought they were the police, but they were not the police, they were the school police people. They came, took a statement from me, and the statement that I gave them, they used it against me. They turned it around. So I'm gonna stay at the hospital scene. So at the hospital, my mom, dad, sister, her boyfriend, they all came, and all I could see was my mama crying, and that broke my heart. So before we left, they told me that the rape kid came back positive, which I was not surprised. But yes, so like, okay, cool. The clothes that I had on at the party, they the cops, the campus cops took them. So we had to go to a thrift store and we told them the situation, and they let us get clothes for free. So after we were able to get the clothes for free, we had to go back to the college because the dean wanted to talk to us. So the first people we talked to was the cops, the campus cops, and they put me and my mom in a certain in a separate room. And in her room, my mom's room, they was telling her that they're gonna fight for me, get justice for me, and they're gonna make sure everything is done right. But in my room with the police officer, they told me I was a whore, I deserved it, and I need to keep my mouth shut. And if I dare try to open my mouth and talk about it, they're gonna make me look stupid and show the world that I'm just a true whore and I deserve what I got. So I was like, okay, I'll be quiet. So me and my mom came out of the room at the same time, she looking optimistic, like, yeah, we're gonna get justice for you. At that time, I didn't tell her what was going on. I was like, I'm gonna keep this to myself because they already beat down, so you know, we ain't had that strength to talk. So then they told me I had to go talk to the dean. So my mom still with me, she wanted to come in a room where me and the dean was at, but the dean told her no, she just needs me. So when I walked into this room, it was this long brown table, all 13 guys were sitting at the table. And she told me I had to apologize for them because I caused them a lot of pain and suffering. And I'm just like, is she being for real? So I said it the first two times, but I didn't say it right, according to her. So she was like, You need to say it right. If you want to go, you need to say it right, like you mean it. So I remember saying to them, I am so sorry that I caused y'all so much pain and heartbreak. Can you please forgive me? I had to ask them for forgiveness. So after I finally said it right, she told me to get my stuff and get off campus. And that's what we did. My mom told me, let's just leave whatever you have here. We can always go back to the store and get it. She said, right now, I want you off this campus. So that is what happened. And when I talked about like waking up and still seeing their faces, I do still see their faces. And it being years since 2010, and I still fight with that battle, but it's starting to get better. I'm starting to get a little bit stronger through the episodes, but it still hurts because I felt like I never got it justice. And it really do suck.

SPEAKER_00 13:15

First, I want to apologize for what you experienced because nobody deserves that. Nobody deserves it. What they did, they should have been held accountable. Because you're only creating monsters further monsters.

SPEAKER_01 13:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 13:29

Secondly, I apologize for that principal, that dean. She clearly lacks empathy in the heart of a woman, and she probably does not know how to love, and probably does not know accountability her own self. Thirdly, you are strong. Not strong for covering up your story and apologizing, but strong for deciding that, hey, I'm not just gonna lay down and die. I'm gonna tell my story. I'm gonna get the help I need and I'm gonna heal.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Right.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

You are phenomenal because God created you. And he wrote your story. He knew exactly what you were going to go through, and he knew that you weren't gonna go through it alone. Because he was always right there. And fourthly, I have something I want you to read.

SPEAKER_02 14:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:28

I'm gonna send it to you after because you said you wish you got justice and it sucks.

SPEAKER_02 14:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 14:33

And I'm writing my second book, Lips of Truth, and it's about the justice that I didn't get. It's a part two to my number one book sequel, Commitment to a Deceitful Liar. And at the end of it, it talks about the justice that I wish I got in that courtroom. And I want to say, you are the courtroom and you became the verdict.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

The reason why I said that is because a lot of times people expect that the things that they do to us is supposed to cause us so much pain and cripple us, and we'll lose our identity, and we'll never step into who we're supposed to become according to God's plan. But you are becoming and you are stepping into exactly who God called you to be. You just gotta keep doing the work and working on yourself. Don't let anybody steal that away from you. You rendered them powerless the moment you opened your mouth, the moment you stepped on the lysoses platform, you rendered them powerless. They have no authority over your life, they have no authority over your healing, and they have no authority over your heart. And I just want to say that to you, and I hope that you receive it and continue to do the work. And I'm glad that you are here with us today because a lot of times we have guests, we have friends that come on here and we sit with them and we talk with them, and they come off as, oh, I'm healed, I'm I'm good. But you came on here as your authentic self. Aisha, I'm still healing. Some nights I still do have nightmares, but you are still doing the work, and that is a part of your legacy, is continuing to do the work.

SPEAKER_02 16:13

And I just want to say, like, from where I started to where I'm at now, after that incident, I tried to end my life many, many, many times. Different ways, different times, and I was just never successful. So I think I just got to the point, you know, I realized God, He has me on this earth for a reason. I can't take myself out until He says He's ready for me. So I had no choice but try, you know, get the help I need and try to push forward. Because until he's finished, I'm still gonna be here doing his mission.

SPEAKER_00 16:57

Amen to that. And you know it and you believe it, and I can I can tell that you believe it. And I'm so I'm giving all the glory back to God because if it wasn't for him, you would not be here. And I'm glad that you are still here standing. Yes, I know you said you didn't get the justice, but you are the justice, you are the verdict. I am the verdict. Start saying that to yourself because you are the living proof of what the enemy tried to destroy, but God gave you life. Yes, and I want to ask you I know that you you you left the campus and all of that happened, but was there a point that you and your family tried to reach out back to them or tried to get help from authorities?

SPEAKER_02 17:54

Um, yes, and it's just crazy and sad at the same time. We had tried to reach out to lawyers in that city, and a lot of the lawyers said they could not help me because they already represented them in the past for the same case. So they have done this to girls in the past many, many times, and they had contacted lawyers, and the lawyers, I don't know if they paid them off or what happened, because they represented that school, they said they couldn't help me. After that, that's when I had to get myself into mental health therapy and stuff, because even though I may not you know get what I want from them, or I just really want an apology, but even though I may probably never get them, I'm sorry, Aisha, at least my mental health be better, and I'm just a person rebuilding from the shatter from everything that broken in me, and new pieces are starting to build back up. So, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 19:01

I'm glad that you're doing the work. Thank you for doing the work, not just for yourself, but for other women and men that may experience what you did, they'll look back and be like, Well, Aisha did this. I'm gonna try it and add to it and see what works for me. Before anything you experienced, before survival became a part of your story, who were you?

SPEAKER_02 19:27

Who was I before? Well, like I said, I didn't grow up in a like in a in the best family. I just did not. Um, before I went to college, I would actually not even living with my parents, I had to be taken from the household. And it it was just, I wasn't, it wasn't the best. Basically, before I went to college, I felt like I was unloved. Nobody didn't want me, nobody didn't care about me, I'm the problem, and everything negative, I thought that of me. But after this situation and where I'm at now, I know I was never the problem. I am always worthy of love. And I learned so much from the person I was before to the person I am now. Even as a teen, I wasn't in a good head space.

SPEAKER_00 20:27

I'm grateful that you came to that realization because you were loved deeply, and you were handpicked before you were even formed in your mom's womb. And I'm glad that you had the opportunity to do the work and realize that because it's a very hard thing to know.

SPEAKER_01 20:48

That journey is hard to get to that point.

SPEAKER_00 20:52

What did it take for you to get to that point? For and for a listener who's listening right now, who's stuck in that I'm not valued, I'm not loved, I don't deserve to be here, I should just leave because nobody cares about me. What would you say to them right now?

SPEAKER_02 21:10

I think what got me to that point, it had a lot to do with me trying to take myself out on this world. And the more damage I was doing to try to leave, it was doing damage to my own body. And that wasn't fair to me. It wasn't fair to me to harm myself because of what other people are doing and saying to me. That that's not fair. So I guess I came to that realization, was like, you know what? I'm gonna stop punishing myself because of what they have to say or what they did. They're gonna have to give an account of it at the end of the day. I just have to keep being the person that I am and keep moving forward, and good things will happen. I can't say when it's gonna happen, but good things will. Happen if I just keep moving forward.

SPEAKER_00 22:03

You said being around children feels like therapy for you. What does being in that space give you that life didn't always give you?

SPEAKER_02 22:14

Being around children, I feel like they are not going by script. They are 100%, whatever comes to their mind, they say it. They don't care, you know, if it's wrong, right, bad, they they just say it, and I love that. And I give them unconditional love, no matter what they say and what they do. And I always wished I had somebody to give me that when I was younger. But now that I can give it to another child, you know, they may not feel that at home, but whenever they come to school, they're gonna miss Isha, let me go get her a hug. Because they know you're my president, you're gonna be loved. Even you don't want to be loved, you're gonna be loved today.

SPEAKER_00 22:56

You know, life is so funny how sometimes what we give others is exactly what we need. And as I listen to you say the peace and the joy that children bring to you, and you being able to give them something in return. Like you're their safety net, like you're their peace, like you want them to remember you as joy for them. Isn't that funny how life will turn out to give you the exact peace that we are hoping to give to a child? We're also giving it to our own selves.

SPEAKER_02 23:30

Right. Right. And it at the end of the day, when I go home after dealing with the kiddos and stuff, I'd be like, you know what? I feel good. I got to help little Johnny today, tie his shoe or helped him when he was crying. It felt it feels good to help and to build little minds up so they can have the right foundation that they're gonna need as an adult.

SPEAKER_00 23:57

Yeah, and that sense of purpose too. I feel like for you, you found purpose in those children.

SPEAKER_02 24:04

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 24:05

Being a teacher, you get to see how needed and valuable you are to them, and that kept you. You said something also that resonated with me and really stayed, and it's been floating around in my head that you want children to know they're loved and they can be whoever they want to be, and that you didn't always have that option. Can you talk about that for yourself? Like, I know you you mentioned your childhood and how rough it was for you to not feeling loved in a home and accepted, but what did that do to you as a child and now transforming your voice for other children?

SPEAKER_02 24:44

Growing up, like I was told more what I couldn't do, what I couldn't be, and if I did anything wrong, I mean I understand everybody got their own views and stuff about spanking and stuff, but my father incident when he was teaching me how to put my shoes on the right feet and the tie of my shoe. Every time I messed up, I got hit in the face. Over and over and over again until he got frustrated and just told me to go outside. And my sister, my older sister actually was the one who taught me how to put my shoes on the right feet and stuff. Then growing up, I would say, like, I want to be a firefighter. Girls can't be that. Girls can't be firefighters, girls are not supposed to go to school, um, girls' position is supposed to be in the kitchen, in the bedroom. So hearing all that growing up nonstop, it kind of takes your voice away and makes you feel like I don't got no purpose in this world. I can't be nothing. But now I tell a child, you know, if they want to be a Power Ranger, even though there's no more Power Rangers. But I say, you want to be a purple Power Ranger, you be the best purple Power Ranger you can be. I'm not gonna tell somebody no, they can't be it, if that's what they want to be. You know, don't let nobody stump on your voice. And that's what I did as a child. I had adults stump it on my voice, and I don't want to see another child go through that.

SPEAKER_00 26:17

It sounds like you're rewriting love in real time for yourself as well. You've created a whole new definition of love for other children that when they grow up, they will know exactly that that the when we say love is patient and love is kind and love is understanding, they will say, Miss Miss Aesa taught me that even if they live in a toxic home where their parents are abusive, they will know that there was someone, a teacher, who really taught them how to love and receive love. Right, and you did that, and you're doing it, and you said something, and you know, your situation and that experience you went through traumatic, lonely, dark, but you said something that a lot of us don't really think about. Women are supposed to be in the kitchen cooking, and they're supposed to be in the bedroom servicing their partner, looking pretty, hearing that as a child, that those are the things that make us worthy as a woman. What did that do to you when you were being essayed? And then hearing a woman also tell you that you should apologize because it was almost like, no, you were wrong. You should have just laid there and let them do what they want to you. What did that do to you? How did that shape your mind?

SPEAKER_02 27:44

That's exactly how I was feeling. I feel like everything my daddy was trying to tell me growing up, he was telling the truth. I shouldn't have gone to college. I should have just stayed, I should have just gave them what they wanted and just walked away with a smile on my face, I guess. But I when I my mind just was I never my mind ain't never gone that dark before. Because I'm remembering everything my daddy said, everything the dean and the boys said and did. That was the darkest moment of my life I have ever been in.

SPEAKER_00 28:20

And I can I can imagine those moments for you because I experienced it. Saying sorry to somebody when you did nothing wrong, it's painful and it's hurtful.

SPEAKER_02 28:32

Yes. And you have to tell yourself, you know, because I know for me, I always ask myself, like, if you know you wasn't, you didn't do nothing wrong, why did you allow that person to make you say sorry? But I know I wasn't in a good headspace. If she told me to get on the roof and jump, I probably would have got on the roof and jumped. Because that's how bad my mental space was at the time.

SPEAKER_00 28:57

And you know, when we're so young, the shaping of our minds and our feelings and our emotions and our thoughts of the world and situations, it starts from home.

SPEAKER_01 29:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

It starts from home, and I truly believe had your dad educated you the right way with love and compassion and safety and reassurance, you would have known that that wasn't your fault.

SPEAKER_02 29:25

I agree.

SPEAKER_00 29:26

What is your relationship like now with your mom and your dad?

SPEAKER_02 29:29

Oh, with my mom, I guess you can say it's normal. We have our ups and downs and everything, but she sticks by my side. It don't matter if I had a good day, bad day, and I take it out on her, she's right there. She's not going nowhere. No matter how hard I push, she ain't going nowhere. Um, my dad, he really don't have a relationship with me like that no more. Um we don't we don't really talk or speak. And we live in the same state, in the same area, and he don't reach out to me or nothing, so I guess I'm mommy baby. I'm always gonna be her baby.

SPEAKER_00 30:13

That's not a bad thing at all. Being mommy's baby is good.

SPEAKER_01 30:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:20

How are you coping with not talking to your dad? I know we say mommy's baby, but you know, every girl wants to be daddy's girl. You know, we we dream of doing things with our dads that we don't normally do with our moms, or just that bond, that relationship to call dad. How have you been dealing with that?

SPEAKER_02 30:40

At first it hurt. I'm not gonna lie, it hurt at first because I'm like, I always ask my mom, like, mom, why he always reaching out to my sister? He don't never say nothing to me. And when I did reach out to him, he just read it and not say nothing. So my sister will have to be like, Look, I should just wrote you a message. You need to write her back. So I I got to the point where I'm tired of begging somebody grown to fulfill that position that they're supposed to fulfill. If you don't want to be my daddy, then cool. I'm not gonna keep twisting your arm for you to talk to me. There's so many other people in this world that will love me, support me, and I'm fine with that. I got to that point, so I really don't talk to him like that. But if he wanna reach out to me, that's fine, but I'm not reaching out all the time like I used to.

SPEAKER_00 31:36

It's sad, but I I'm I'm feeling like he probably regrets a lot of things that he did. But for parents, sometimes avoiding for them is better than just admitting that you know what I was wrong. I'm sorry. Where can we start from? Yeah, and I pray that one day he will come to that realization and he will reach out to you, and you guys can build a relationship and not forget the past, but face it and honor it and move forward together.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

Yes, I hope some somewhere in the future that happens when he's ready. I'm right here, doors open, but we'll see.

SPEAKER_00 32:26

You know, a lot of people when it when situations, experiences like that happen, we see social media. A lot of people, social media is either good or bad, but it's also great because it's a platform for people to speak their truth, and many times people miss the foundation of what happened, focusing on well, how could you let that happen? What did you do wrong? You must have caused it on yourself. And I know that you probably went through that, but how did that experience impact your sense of safety, identity, your and your voice?

SPEAKER_02 33:02

Um, for safety, I got post-tra post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD. I got it bad. I got it really bad. Like, I don't like going out in public. I don't like men being around me at all. And I just like if it's a man, if I'm in a store and a man is walking behind me, I stop so they can go in front of me. Now they keep walking behind me. I know people be like, you really do this? Yes, I really do this. This is how bad my PTSD is. I will sit right there on the floor so they can just go around me. Because I feel like my safety and my body is in danger. And me sitting on that floor, you can't get me. So I so safety, I'm still working on it. Still trying to give people a chance because I know they didn't have nothing to do with the situation, but my head is like red flags everywhere. Like, no, no, no, no, no. So, yes. Um, but everything else, I feel like is it's normal, it's stable. Um where I need to be, it's just a safety protocol thing that I'm still fighting with.

SPEAKER_00 34:18

PTSD.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 34:22

Can you explain for our listeners what does PTSD mean in your own words? Because everybody they hear the word, but what does PTSD mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 34:33

So, post-traumatic stress disorder. I went through some trauma. That's based to me, best way I could describe it. I went through trauma. And the trauma affected my brain on how I see the world and see people, and because of that, I have to take medication, I had to go to therapy. They're trying to help my brain get back to how it was before I went through this traumatic experience. But we've been working on this since 2010. I have made some progress, but I'm not 100% there yet. Like now I'm starting to I'm trying to date a little bit, but I'm still like, no, I don't want. I don't want I don't want to go through this again. I don't feel safe. So I'm I'm slowly getting out there. I'm slowly starting to learn to trust people again, but that PTSD and the way I see the world and stuff, that plays a big factor on my everyday life.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

It's hard. I want you to speak to the person, the woman or man that's right now going through that same thing, PTSD. They want to push themselves out of it, but they just can't, they can't shake it.

SPEAKER_02 35:54

I would tell them there's no magical wand that can fix it. And the only thing you can do is try to fix it by seeking help and whatever you need. Now, you you won't when you seek help or start working on it yourself, you're not gonna make no big wave on the first day, second day, or third day. You gotta give it time. I can't give you no time limit. I can't tell you exactly when, what date and time it's gonna happen, but it will. Just keep going. Seek help. Do self-care, do whatever you have to do to remind yourself that you are love, you are safe, and you are wonderful.

SPEAKER_00 36:45

Keep going, keep going. Sometimes the trauma isn't just what happened, it's what people choose to do after. And like Aisha said, keep going. Trauma happened, but when you choose not to do anything about it, that's where the real danger begins. So keep going. What you choose today becomes the legacy you pass on.