We are a traumatized species.

In response to another post I made... It's worse than the systems we live in.

A question that I have been grappling with for years—“What the hell is wrong with us?”—was the wrong one. The truth isn’t that something is inherently broken or flawed in us. The truth is that we are traumatized. Individually and collectively, we’ve been shaped by centuries of pain, fear, and disconnection, passed down like an inheritance we didn’t ask for. This trauma has locked us into survival mode, keeping us reactive, fearful, and isolated. Worse, it’s written into the systems we’ve built, which are nothing more than reflections of our wounds. Systems like capitalism, colonialism, and exploitation aren’t the problem themselves, they’re symptoms of our collective trauma. They thrive on secrecy, fear, and shame, consuming us like a rabid, cornered animal that lashes out even as it devours itself.

Healing starts with carrying our cross, the weight of our pain, trauma, and responsibility; not by dragging it through the mud, but by lifting it willingly. This isn’t martyrdom. It’s about acknowledging what’s yours to bear and taking it to the crucible. The crucible isn’t destruction; it’s transformation. It refines us. The wood of the cross isn’t burned away; it’s reshaped, its matter transformed into something essential and meaningful. Surrendering your cross isn’t about giving up; it’s about letting go of what no longer serves you in service to a higher ideal. Without a “why,” surrender becomes avoidance. With it, surrender becomes liberation.

The “why” is where we’ve gone wrong. For too long, humanity’s goal has been survival at all costs, driven by fear and disconnection. That “why” is killing us. Our new goal must be connection, healing, and sustainability; not just for ourselves but for each other and the Earth that made us. This means building a universal ground floor where no one sinks below basic dignity and safety. Healing trauma doesn’t just change individuals; it rewires entire systems. A healed population rejects systems of harm because their actions naturally align with values that serve humanity as a whole.

But the system won’t go quietly. History shows us that every time humanity steps toward hope, fear strikes back. JFK, MLK, Malcolm X; all leaders who inspire us to be better are almost always struck down by the very systems they threaten. Their deaths weren’t random; they were fear lashing out at hope, dragging us back into the cave. Yet every time, the light they carried stays lit a little longer.

The system as we know it will collapse, it’s inevitable. The question is whether we’ll meet that collapse healed or fractured. If we dismantle it while healing, we can transform it into something better. If we collapse unhealed, we’ll repeat the cycle of trauma. Either way, healing isn’t optional. It’s the crucible we all face. And in that crucible, what no longer serves us—our fear-based beliefs, our exploitative systems—must be refined into something aligned with connection, dignity, and sustainability.

We can’t rewrite the past. We can’t undo what’s been done. But we can transform it by being better, by abolishing the systems that allowed this harm in the first place, and by carrying our cross willingly to the crucible. The Earth made us, and we’re enough—not because of what we’ve done, but because we’re still here. The only thing left to do is heal, align, and move forward. Heal your pain, carry your cross, and transform yourself into the kind of person who builds a better world.