Latest / The United States of Us / "Marriage Is Not Consent" | Marital Rape and Healing
Transcript
- 0:00Clair: I just kept thinking, like, well, this is just my life. Like, I didn't
- 0:05know anything was wrong, I just thought, this is how life is.
- 0:09And honestly, it was when the Me Too movement started.
- 0:13And all these women were coming forward of, like.
- 0:17saying these things, like, this person did this, and this
- 0:20person did this, and in my mind, and I don't… I don't
- 0:23want to, like, diminish anyone's…
- 0:25story… large or small, but in my mind, I was like.
- 0:29that's not a big deal. Like, why is she complaining about that?
- 0:32Because in my mind, all that stuff was happening to me.
- 0:41Tammy: Hello, hello, hello, and welcome, everyone, to
- 0:45episode 19 of the United States of Us.
- 0:48We have a very special guest today, and we have a very
- 0:53important and sensitive topic to talk about today.
- 0:57So, I'm gonna let Lori read a message that we have directed to all
- 1:02of our viewers and listeners today, and if you hear yourself in it
- 1:07anywhere, just know that there are resources for you. Feel free to
- 1:12reach out to us at the podcast.
- 1:14Or a local resource that might be available to you.
- 1:20Lori: Great. Thank you, Tammy. Yeah, before… before we begin.
- 1:27We want to acknowledge that today's conversation touches
- 1:31on a deeply personal and often misunderstood subject,
- 1:35which is marital rape, or spousal rape.
- 1:40We want to be clear about something important.
- 1:43Marriage is not consent.
- 1:46And love is never an entitlement to another person's body.
- 1:52Every person deserves to feel safe.
- 1:56Respected, and valued in their relationship.
- 2:01Every person has the right to say no,
- 2:04regardless of their marital status.
- 2:07Their history with their partner.
- 2:10Or the promises they made when they married.
- 2:15For anyone listening who has experienced sexual
- 2:18violation within a marriage or relationship.
- 2:22We want you to hear this.
- 2:24You are not to blame.
- 2:26You did not deserve it.
- 2:29And you are not alone.
- 2:32You may have spent years questioning your experience.
- 2:36Struggling to find words for what happened.
- 2:40Or believing that no one would understand.
- 2:44Whatever you are feeling, you deserve compassion, support, and the
- 2:50freedom to make your own choices about your healing.
- 2:56Today, we are holding space for one woman's story.
- 3:01We thank you, Clair, for your courage in sharing your experience.
- 3:07And we ask our listeners to receive her words with open hearts.
- 3:12Without judgment, and with respect to her privacy.
- 3:18Our hope is that conversations like this
- 3:20can help break the silence.
- 3:23Challenge harmful beliefs.
- 3:25And remind every person that true love does not demand control.
- 3:31Threaten or violate.
- 3:34True love honors, respects, and protects.
- 3:40Because at the heart of the United States of us.
- 3:44We believe that love, connection, and courage can help us
- 3:49create a world where every person feels safe enough to be
- 3:53heard and valued enough to be respected.
- 4:00Tammy: Thank you so much, Lori, for that message.
- 4:04It feels very important right now for us to talk
- 4:08about this, especially in light of
- 4:11Everything that seems to be, becoming uncovered, in what we
- 4:16know about people, and what we know about.
- 4:20the reality that's happening all around us. We talk
- 4:25about the Cornell 57, and how it's possible that
- 4:29anything like that could happen, and…
- 4:33I know, you know, it's been a few minutes since I was in
- 4:38college, but that is something that I heard about happening when
- 4:43I was in college, you know? It's nothing new, it's just not
- 4:48being covered up as much as it used to be.
- 4:52date rape we've heard about, you know, since we were young. And,
- 5:00It just feels like there is such a prevalence, and there are so
- 5:05many people hurting as a result of this, and not only the women
- 5:11are being hurt by this. The men who are perpetuating this sort
- 5:16of violence are also hurting.
- 5:19And that has been one of our biggest goals, is to help
- 5:24bring all of us together. United States of us means
- 5:30unity, and we can't heal women
- 5:33without healing men. So, I want to make that very clear, that this is
- 5:39not a… a session where we're just going to beat up on
- 5:44abusive men, we are going to look at all aspects of this. So…
- 5:52without, further words from me, I want to introduce Clair,
- 5:56and thank you again, Clair, for being with us today. And
- 6:01we're just gonna let you start your story wherever you
- 6:05feel like your story starts.
- 6:08Clair: Okay, thank you so much for having me on
- 6:13here today. So, I guess… Recap…
- 6:17Well, let's see… where do I want to start?
- 6:21the reason… I guess I want to say, like, the reason that my face
- 6:26is not shown is for protection of, you know, my…
- 6:31ex-spouse, and…
- 6:33everyone involved, because I am, like, healed, I've
- 6:37forgiven, like, I'm on the other side, and it was…
- 6:41Quite the journey to get here, but it's been an amazing journey.
- 6:46And, you know, I am… I have a good relationship with him now, and, you
- 6:51know, there's been some real healing for both of us, and…
- 6:56you know, I don't see him as a bad person, you know, he
- 7:00wasn't a great husband to me, but I think he's a great
- 7:03husband to his current family, and I think he's… I mean, he…
- 7:08I know he's a wonderful person, so…
- 7:10You know, it was unfortunate, but it has taught me so many
- 7:15lessons, and it has put me where I am now in my life.
- 7:19And so, the way that I see…
- 7:23you know, my life and the perspective of this
- 7:27Earth journey, Is that that was…
- 7:31something that was preset before we came to Earth.
- 7:35Before… yeah, like, you know, like, we made a deal that I wanted to
- 7:39learn certain lessons, and I wanted to become a certain…
- 7:43person, or, you know, I wanted a certain journey, I
- 7:47wanted a certain soul growth, and that's what…
- 7:50he did for me through this. So, but looking back on that, and
- 7:54so, with everyone in our lives, I see that. We've… we've had
- 7:59these pre-contracts, and I have had a path I wanted to learn,
- 8:03and when we come down and we forget.
- 8:06It's, it seems painful, it seems like a lot of
- 8:09suffering, it seems confusing.
- 8:12But…
- 8:14it's… when you look back from… from this point, it's so…
- 8:18it's… it's a very… it's a cool perspective, and so I look
- 8:22back and I see how, you know, I was raised,
- 8:26My mom and my dad were fairly,
- 8:29misogynistic, which is, you know, they just didn't
- 8:32look highly upon women. They just didn't.
- 8:35Tammy: Right.
- 8:36Clair: the women as, you know, I was in a religion where men were…
- 8:41More than women, and women were just here to serve, you know, so…
- 8:46So I set… I was set up from there to think less of
- 8:50myself, to, you know, to not love myself.
- 8:54to think I was beneath men.
- 8:57And so, obviously, that was the frequency I had,
- 9:00so I attracted that kind of spouse.
- 9:03And he proved to me over and over how I felt about myself, which
- 9:08was worthless and terrible, you know? Like, because…
- 9:13if anyone's had, you know, I think most people, especially
- 9:17women, have had some sort of sexual trauma in their life.
- 9:21It's just kind of the society we live in.
- 9:24Tammy: And…
- 9:25Clair: It's… it's unpleasant in all of its forms.
- 9:29But it's just, you know, you think, you hear about it so
- 9:32often that we've almost even become numb to it.
- 9:35But, when someone is doing something to your body
- 9:39that you don't want them to do.
- 9:42It does something to your mind, where you have to justify
- 9:46why would this person be doing this to me? And for me, my
- 9:50justification was, well, because I… I'm terrible, and I'm worthless,
- 9:54and so why wouldn't he? Like, I'm, you know, I'm… I'm trash, or
- 9:58whatever, you know, you have to rationalize it somehow in your brain to…
- 10:03To be able to…
- 10:04live on, you know, and so that… I made that
- 10:09okay. I made that okay, and…
- 10:12Let's see, just, like, a timestamp. We kind of, you know,
- 10:16it started quickly after we got married.
- 10:19You know, the first time, I was, you know, I was not feeling well is
- 10:24when it happened, and so I couldn't fight them off.
- 10:28Tammy: How old were you, Clair, when you got married?
- 10:31Clair: I was 26.
- 10:32Tammy: Okay.
- 10:33Clair: Yeah, so I was… I was old enough. I was… I was raised
- 10:36fairly sheltered, you know, I just…
- 10:39And he had attempted once before that, and I fought him off.
- 10:44Because I, you know, and in my brain, I was just like, that
- 10:48was weird, like, what was that, you know? We hadn't been
- 10:51married very long, I was like, I guess…
- 10:54you know, I didn't know. So the second time, when I wasn't feeling
- 10:57well, and I couldn't fight him off, and afterwards, I was just, like,
- 11:01laying there, I was crying, and he had left.
- 11:04And I crawled myself into the bathroom to, like,
- 11:08sit in the shower, and I was just…
- 11:11you know, it's… it set… that kind of was a set point. Like.
- 11:17And I… I… because I am a believer that, you know, we create… like,
- 11:20we're in charge, and I didn't know then, you know, I have… I have so
- 11:24much love for that version of myself, I didn't have the tools I have
- 11:28now, I didn't have the knowledge I have now.
- 11:31So I just… I was scared, and I didn't know what to do, and…
- 11:35You know, we were not at our own home, we were
- 11:38at family's homes, so I didn't…
- 11:41You know, I didn't want to make a scene, I didn't know, and now,
- 11:45when I think back, I wish I would have made a scene.
- 11:49screamed and kicked and thrown something and hit him in the face,
- 11:52and, you know, I should have made that a bigger deal.
- 11:55But because of all of my programming, or, you
- 11:59know, and my fear, I just… kind of…
- 12:02built with it on my own, you know, I try to love
- 12:05Out of the bedroom, and he came in and just kind
- 12:08of pretended nothing had happened.
- 12:11And… We didn't… we didn't talk about it, like, you
- 12:15know, we didn't talk about that.
- 12:17For years, or until we were exiting the marriage,
- 12:20which was, you know, over a decade long.
- 12:24And so that kind of set the standard, like, I need a
- 12:27time to heal from that, I need a time to…
- 12:30process it, but, you know, in a couple of days, he was ready
- 12:35for more, and I wasn't, so he just had… that became the way he
- 12:40got intercourse in our marriage, because…
- 12:45you know, I was never able to, like, kind of catch my breath, or
- 12:48process what was happening. You know, it would happen
- 12:52You know, every few days, and so… I had such a desire.
- 12:57to be a good wife. Like, I've always wanted to be a
- 13:00wife, I was excited to be a wife.
- 13:02I really wanted to be a good wife, you know, I, so I figured, okay,
- 13:06well, I guess this is what marriage is, maybe, and I need to be the
- 13:11best I can. You know, I wanted to support him in his, like, goals
- 13:15and dreams. His goals and dreams were my goals and dreams. I was
- 13:19just really trying to be…
- 13:21you know, now I see that as I was self- sacrificing,
- 13:24and people-pleasing, and all of those things now, but
- 13:27at that point, I was just like.
- 13:29I want to be a good wife, I want him to be a success, I want to do
- 13:33what I need to do to help him be the best he can be, and if this
- 13:37is what it takes, then I guess I'll just…
- 13:40do that. So I was… I got really good at disassociating.
- 13:46Tammy: Right?
- 13:47Clair: I just would go to a happy place, and just, you know, but
- 13:52it got to the point where, like, I would feel sick
- 13:56afterwards. Like, my body was sick, I,
- 14:00I had to adjust, like, you know,
- 14:03it would happen about every 3 days. 3 days, he would get pretty
- 14:07grumpy if he, you know, he didn't have sex, so…
- 14:10And so we had this kind of pattern every third day.
- 14:13So, I would have to alter the way I ate, alter the way I did
- 14:17things, because I'm like, okay, it's gonna happen, like, I
- 14:20don't want to eat too much, because it made… my whole system
- 14:23was just sick afterwards, you know?
- 14:26So, you know, I try to, like, Be in a position
- 14:30you know, in a situation where it could be… just happen quick and
- 14:34be done, like, I just… I just wanted… because then, afterwards, I
- 14:37had, like, two days of, like, like, just kind of, okay, I'm okay
- 14:41for a couple of days, and then it ramped up, and I'm like, okay,
- 14:44don't eat today, like…
- 14:46it's just, you know, I was… and in my mind, I wasn't fully aware of
- 14:49what was happening to me. I just… because, you know, I had never been
- 14:53married before, my parents didn't have a great marriage, I was like,
- 14:57maybe this is what marriage is, I don't know.
- 14:59So I just kept trying to be that good wife, you know, I cooked
- 15:03and cleaned and made up, you know, I'd still get up and make him
- 15:06all of his meals and stuff, and I just…
- 15:09I…
- 15:10Yeah, that was our life. It was… it was just a loop, and I remember
- 15:14asking him once, like, we need to, like, do something, like, start
- 15:18over. Can we, like, get divorced and get married again? Like,
- 15:21because in my mind, I just needed a break. I needed just to stop,
- 15:25heal, and then… because, I mean, in my marriage, I wanted to have a
- 15:29good sex life in my marriage.
- 15:30You know, I didn't hate sex, I didn't… I wanted to have a
- 15:34wonderful, intimate relationship with my spouse, like, that was
- 15:38something I deeply wanted, but I couldn't get my head above water
- 15:43without, you know, being raped again, and so…
- 15:46I remember asking him that, and he was like, no, no, no,
- 15:50no, it's too much work, too busy, like, you know, so it
- 15:53just kind of kept continuing on.
- 15:55And… I, you know, I just kind of disappeared into
- 15:59myself and accepted this as normal.
- 16:02And then, when our child was, born.
- 16:07you know.
- 16:08things kind of shifted for me, because my focus now was no longer
- 16:13fully on him. I had something else to focus on.
- 16:17And so I just… I pushed him. I pushed him away. And I
- 16:21actually… I left his bed, and I moved into the nursery,
- 16:25because I just needed less access.
- 16:28And so, you know.
- 16:31I'm sure that was terrible for him. Like, now, you know,
- 16:35like, looking at his perspective, I just…
- 16:38It could not have been.
- 16:42easy, but that's how all my brain could figure out what to do. I
- 16:46didn't have a lot of support from my family in it, because just of…
- 16:52who he was. He was just a wonderful person,
- 16:56and… In everyone's mind, and…
- 16:59I didn't know what to do, and so I moved out, and then it got worse
- 17:03there, because now he'd literally have to hunt me down. He would hide
- 17:07in the shadows when I would get up in the middle of the night, or hide
- 17:12in the closet when I came out of the shower, or drag me out of my bed.
- 17:16You know, like… like, real…
- 17:19Weird stuff was happening.
- 17:22So,
- 17:24I just kept thinking, like, well, this is just my life. Like, I didn't
- 17:29know anything was wrong, I just thought, this is how life is.
- 17:33And honestly, it was when the Me Too movement started.
- 17:37And all these women were coming forward of, like.
- 17:41saying these things, like, this person did this, and this
- 17:44person did this, and in my mind, and I don't… I don't
- 17:47want to, like, diminish anyone's…
- 17:49story… large or small, but in my mind, I was like.
- 17:53that's not a big deal. Like, why is she complaining
- 17:56about that? Because in my mind, all that stuff was
- 17:58happening to me. Like, so much of my.
- 18:00Tammy: Right.
- 18:01Clair: And it was just normal that it was shocking to me that these women
- 18:04were coming up and complaining about these things. I'm like, is that a
- 18:08wrong thing? And it started making my brain work, like…
- 18:11are these things wrong? And I started, like,
- 18:15getting… finding stories of
- 18:18like, particular situations that had happened between he and I, and
- 18:21when he had, like, come home, I would tell him about. I'm like, oh,
- 18:24here's a story I heard about on the Me Too, you know?
- 18:27And I just watched his face, because I wanted to see if
- 18:30there was any recognition of, like, oh, shit, that's
- 18:32what I'm doing, you know, like…
- 18:34I… and so I would tell him these stories, and I kind of… he was kind
- 18:38of like, oh, that's so terrible, but I think there was some
- 18:42recognition, because, you know, it had become so normal for us that
- 18:46it was just how things were. So, that was a big movement for
- 18:51me, to kind of realize what was happening.
- 18:55And to… like, I didn't know even how to get
- 18:59out. Like, honestly, my way out…
- 19:03I just kind of decided to shut down my body.
- 19:06Like, I didn't want to kill myself.
- 19:09But I didn't want to live anymore. It was too much, and it was all,
- 19:13like, the truth was coming, and I was clair on what…
- 19:17was happening, and I was just like, I need to get out of this,
- 19:20you know, and I mean, I had a child, and I was like, I don't
- 19:24want to leave this child, but I can't… I don't know where to go.
- 19:27I didn't have support from my family, like, I couldn't have gone
- 19:31to stay with any of them.
- 19:32I don't think anyone would have really believed me, like, I just… I
- 19:37felt so stuck that I just kind of told my body, like, let's… let's
- 19:41leave without leaving, right? And so I did, like, I lost…
- 19:45I got very, very underweight. My skin was turning gray.
- 19:50And eventually, that's kind of what…
- 19:52like, he noticed, he's like, I'm afraid you're gonna die,
- 19:55you know? And I was like, I'm okay with that, like, that's
- 19:58kind of the plan here, like, you know?
- 20:01Tammy: Interesting.
- 20:02Clair: So that was, the end of the marriage,
- 20:04like, you know, you know, we…
- 20:07Tried to talk about stuff for a minute, and
- 20:10that's… and that was the point when
- 20:12We finally brought up that very first time.
- 20:15that was the time. I mean, it had been over a decade since it
- 20:19happened, and we hadn't even… that was the first time we kind
- 20:22of talked about it, and he, you know, acknowledged that
- 20:25that's what it… you know, like…
- 20:27Tammy: Right.
- 20:28Clair: So, I found, you know, a friend that helped me kind of get out.
- 20:34And I knew, like… okay, you know, I need help,
- 20:39because my mind is not alright, and
- 20:42I just wanted to get healed quickly. I didn't want to be… you know,
- 20:47I'd already spent a lot of time in that situation.
- 20:51And now I wanted to be healed. I wanted to be done with that
- 20:54part of my life. So, you know, I started going to therapy, I
- 20:58started to look at, you know, any kind of
- 21:00Healing modalities just to, like, help me.
- 21:04Heal as quickly as possible, and…
- 21:07Therapy helped for a while, because, you know, I gotta get my story
- 21:11out, I gotta, like, tell somebody else to kind of…
- 21:15Get it out of my… my mind, but after a while.
- 21:18it didn't help. Like, it… actually, I felt like it hurt, because now
- 21:22I… I kept talking about it, and I needed, you know, like, I would
- 21:25wake up, and the whole… my whole life would kind of just ruminate in
- 21:29my head all day, like, that was just what my… was going on, the movie
- 21:33that was playing in my mind.
- 21:34Constantly.
- 21:36And so, I mean, there's some…
- 21:39like I said, therapy did help for a while, and
- 21:42then I just started, you know.
- 21:44Doing my own research, searching and reading and watching a lot
- 21:48of great, like, teachers and stuff online, and…
- 21:52Just, like, piecemealing.
- 21:55a healing modality for myself, like… And,
- 22:02mostly, you know, I think it was the… just the
- 22:04shifting of perspective that helped the most.
- 22:07Because when I… once I… you know, and it was always… even, like,
- 22:11when I first left, I didn't… we didn't really speak about anything
- 22:15besides, like, the essentials for, like, a year.
- 22:19And then… after I'd felt like I kind of got my bearings in.
- 22:24you know, I talked to him, and then I told him, like, my goal here is
- 22:28to be on good terms with you, on… be friendly, like, have everything,
- 22:32you know, like, that's what I truly want, and, you know, I know I need
- 22:36to do some healing, and he needed to do some healing.
- 22:40And, you know… So…
- 22:44that was the goal I had in my mind. It was never to hurt anybody,
- 22:48or, you know, I had already been hurt, no one else needed to feel
- 22:52like I did, no one else needed to hurt.
- 22:55So… I just started shifting and changing, and like, yeah, I
- 22:59mean, I don't… I can't pinpoint a certain…
- 23:02person that helped me the most, because I just took
- 23:06I mean, I was just, like, a…
- 23:08learning sponge. Anything, anything that resonated, I just
- 23:12deep dive into, and just… I'm just, like, really…
- 23:16want to, you know, I had such a strong desire to
- 23:20just make it… make me, you know…
- 23:23be… have that in the past, and… and rearrange how I
- 23:26saw it, and move on with my life. So…
- 23:32So, yeah, that's… so if you have any questions, I guess, that's
- 23:36kind of just the rundown. And so, like I said, now here I am, I'm
- 23:41healed, we've got a good relationship, like, I feel… I feel really
- 23:45good about where we are, and so…
- 23:48you know, I guess, you know, I'm proud of myself,
- 23:51and I've… I've raised my… my child to…
- 23:54To see these different perspectives as he's growing up,
- 23:58and so they'll know… A little… I don't know.
- 24:04Tammy: Well, I just want to say, Clair, that I honor and validate you
- 24:09for what you went through, and for having the clarity and the
- 24:13self-awareness to know that healing is really what the end
- 24:18goal was for you and for him.
- 24:21I think it's easy for us to, especially…
- 24:26Now, when it feels like we as a society are very divided, it's really
- 24:32easy to just stay angry about the things that happen to us.
- 24:37And… The problem with that is that it keeps us
- 24:42in that low vibration, and it's…
- 24:46it blocks the healing for us, and it blocks the healing for
- 24:50others, and it blocks the connection. And just like you said,
- 24:55you have a child with this man, and, you know, how can you
- 24:59look at your child and not see him?
- 25:03So, I just really want to honor the work that you've done
- 25:08for you, and… and the effort, and the outlook
- 25:13and the goal that you set for doing that work. I
- 25:17think that's really important, and
- 25:21I'm very inspired by that, so thank you for that.
- 25:26Clair: Yeah, you're welcome. Thank you.
- 25:28I guess a couple of things I did want to touch on is Like… after…
- 25:35You know, like, talking about it is always a strange
- 25:39thing, because when you tell anybody.
- 25:42But that's, like, what happened to you. I think
- 25:45there's… there's such, like, stigma and stereotypes
- 25:48attached, or assumptions of, like…
- 25:51you know, oh, well, you must have been, like, a prude or never
- 25:54wanted to have sex, so he was forced to do that, you know? And
- 25:57maybe in some cases, maybe that's it, but…
- 26:00I think, you know, for my case, and probably many others, is, like I
- 26:04said, we were stuck in that loop. Like, if we would have taken, like,
- 26:08a month off and, like, talked about it and healed, we could have
- 26:11started at a different point, but since we never did.
- 26:15You know, and that's on both of us for not talking about it.
- 26:18Like, there's no blame of, like, who was at fault there. I
- 26:21wasn't great at communicating, and we needed to…
- 26:25To do that, but, like, because there was such a desire for me to
- 26:29have, like, a healthy sex life in my marriage.
- 26:32And so, it was sad that, you know, and it still is something that I
- 26:36look back and I'm kind of sad on, that all those years…
- 26:40Like…
- 26:42my sex life was so sad and trauma… traumatizing and not fun and
- 26:46connecting like it should have been. So, you know, there's… I'm
- 26:51sure there's a million reasons why people do it, you know? Why this
- 26:56happens in a marriage. It's gotta be…
- 27:00You know, as many reasons as there are people, but,
- 27:04it is hard to talk about when people look at
- 27:06you, like, I've had people be like.
- 27:08Literally say to me, like, you can't… you were
- 27:11married, you can't be raped.
- 27:12And I'm like, that's, you know, that's the…
- 27:16misconception, I guess, but, you know, it's…
- 27:19you know, and like Lori said before, it's everything, it
- 27:23needs to be consensual. These are our bodies, like, these
- 27:26are our bodies that our souls live in.
- 27:28know anything, you know? Getting slapped on the butt, that… that's not
- 27:32okay if we're not consenting to it, like, being slapped in the face,
- 27:36being grabbed in the shoulder, like, these are our… our, like, sacred
- 27:40vessels here on Earth, to have anyone
- 27:43try to hurt them without, you know, or touch them, or do anything
- 27:47to them, without our consent is… is not okay. Like…
- 27:51Tammy: Listen, I'm gonna go so far as to say I don't even want anyone
- 27:54speaking to me harshly. You don't even have to physically touch me.
- 27:59But I don't want your energy. I don't want that energy directed at me,
- 28:04and if I haven't consented to that, it's not welcome.
- 28:08And, I agree. I'm gonna be the first one to say that I have never
- 28:14considered myself sexually prudish at all. I've probably swung a
- 28:20little further the opposite direction.
- 28:24But I have experiences in college where I didn't
- 28:31consent, and and… At some point.
- 28:36You just get tired… for me, I'm only speaking for me
- 28:41when I say this. At some point, I just got tired of
- 28:46fighting, and I just let it happen.
- 28:49just give up and let it happen, and I suspect that that is not so far
- 28:56off the mark of where you were too, and you can only…
- 29:02Say no so many times.
- 29:06Before, like you said, you just accept it as, this is the way
- 29:12it is, and this is what's supposed to happen, and your body
- 29:17always, always stores the trauma of that.
- 29:21Your body always stores the no in every time
- 29:25that your no gets conflicted.
- 29:30Clair: Yeah, and sometimes, like.
- 29:33sometimes I didn't feel safe to even say no. I didn't want the anger,
- 29:37I didn't want… and so I… but my body was saying no in so many ways,
- 29:41like, literally trying to turn, trying to get away, like…
- 29:44And so I teach my, my kid, like.
- 29:48words are not the only way that, you know, people speak. Listen to
- 29:51people's body language. I show them that with our cats. I'm like,
- 29:55look at the cat's body language. Do you think they want you to be
- 29:58doing that? Like, because they can't speak.
- 30:01So, Jen.
- 30:02Tammy: Absolutely. Absolutely, and that is not even…
- 30:06that is not limited to sex.
- 30:09Clair: Yeah, no.
- 30:10Tammy: I've had experiences with men in my life, and with women as well,
- 30:16where I didn't, you know, I just… I don't need to say the words,
- 30:24And I also knew that The conflict was going to cost
- 30:28more than the acquiescence of whatever.
- 30:32Clair: removes.
- 30:32Tammy: happening. And it doesn't have anything to do with sex. Sometimes
- 30:37it can just be a confrontation, or a conversation, or a direction
- 30:42in which you are being asked to go with another human being, you
- 30:47know? It doesn't have to be about
- 30:50sex, and… and there have been many times when I have…
- 30:57not honored myself because I didn't want the conflict.
- 31:04Clair: Yeah, no, I hear that.
- 31:06Like, the concept of stealing a kiss, right?
- 31:09Like, I think about this a lot, like.
- 31:12is it cute? Is it romantic? Or, like, people who have stolen kisses
- 31:16from me, I get upset. I'm like, I didn't, like, I wasn't wanting
- 31:20that, I wasn't giving you any signs for that, and now you've just,
- 31:24like, taken something from me that, you know, like, it's not, it's
- 31:28not cute, it's not okay.
- 31:30Lori: Well, it's more than just taking something. I mean, that person is
- 31:34coming into your energetic space, and they're putting an imprint
- 31:39into your energy field. It's more than just a stolen kiss, and it's
- 31:43things that we have not been taught.
- 31:46I mean, sex is sacred energy exchange, is what it stands for.
- 31:54And throughout all of our upbringing, our parents,
- 31:58everyone, you mentioned programming, Clair, that
- 32:02I mean, everything is so over-sexualized and
- 32:06overstimulated, it keeps people into that, you know,
- 32:12That primal need of reproduction and control and
- 32:16all of the things, instead of…
- 32:19Allowing all of us to understand what a beautiful exchange it can be
- 32:25of energies, because it should be a consensual exchange between, you
- 32:32know, individuals who happily want to engage in that.
- 32:37Because we don't see it, but on an energetic layer…
- 32:42level, I mean, we are exchanging energy. So…
- 32:47do I consciously want to take on this other person's energy?
- 32:50I mean, had I known that about some of my partners, I don't
- 32:54know that I would have even said yes.
- 32:56Clair: Right.
- 32:58Lori: I understood that, you know, I'm not… not only am I picking up a
- 33:02piece of them, but people they have been with.
- 33:06And what was in their energy field?
- 33:10And I'm going, I don't know that I would have even
- 33:13consented to that. So, it's such…
- 33:16It's such a big thing.
- 33:20In society, for all of us.
- 33:23And the way… I think, you know, probably the Indigenous people who
- 33:27don't have the same programming, they probably see it in a very
- 33:32different way than how it's been taught to us.
- 33:35Plus, you know, people don't know how to release their emotions
- 33:40or express what they're feeling, and so they end up in this
- 33:45primal control state of frustration for many.
- 33:48For many of the men, and they don't know how to get out of
- 33:52that. So, I mean, there's so many layers to this.
- 33:56Clair: There is.
- 33:57Tammy: And underneath, it still feels like a craving for connection. You
- 34:03know, a man wants to connect with a woman, a woman wants to
- 34:08connect with a man, and we just get so confused about how to
- 34:13actually do it. How to ask for it, how to…
- 34:16Be present in it, how to initiate it, how to end it.
- 34:23Just all of the pieces that go with it are really a… a
- 34:29request, a begging for connection.
- 34:33And we just don't have it right. We just don't…
- 34:37we haven't figured out to honor
- 34:40The sacred in each other.
- 34:46Clair: Yeah.
- 34:47Yeah, and you bring up… And you got the…
- 34:49Lori: internet now to where, you know, pornography's
- 34:53so readily available. I mean.
- 34:55what some of the various sites are free. Nothing's free,
- 35:00everything's an energetic exchange. So, for people who were going
- 35:05out and, you know, watching these images, these…
- 35:09what have you, I mean, that frequency bandwidth is being fed.
- 35:13And I'm even gonna go so far, Tammy, as to say, okay, someone
- 35:17goes and looks at a video, and it's, you know, just one man,
- 35:21one woman together, what have you.
- 35:24well, was it consensual? Did they both, you know, are they their
- 35:28consenting adults? Is there… you know, what's underneath that?
- 35:32And so, somebody's viewing that, that's an energetic exchange.
- 35:38The person's watching them, so whatever's energy is in that.
- 35:42is attaching themselves to that person. And then, it's
- 35:45all those dopamine hits, you know, the feel-good hits
- 35:49that the body will give off.
- 35:51And it just starts a really tough cycle for people to break
- 35:56out of that, because it can be an addiction.
- 35:59Tammy: Oh, absolutely.
- 36:01Lori: not only is it an addiction, but it takes more and more for some
- 36:05people to hit those dopamine highs. They may need to have, you know,
- 36:09watch something that has multiple people in it.
- 36:13Different types of sexual encounters. Younger people.
- 36:18They may not even realize they're looking at
- 36:21something that's underage.
- 36:22Something that is non-consensual.
- 36:28I mean, something that's brutal.
- 36:31It's just… and it feeds that frequency, and I'm gonna
- 36:35say it even feeds the frequency of the child sex
- 36:38trafficking that's out there now.
- 36:40We may think, oh, we're not feeding any of that, we're not the
- 36:44perpetrators, we're not the ones gathering the children, we're not
- 36:47the ones that are participating in the events. But if we're looking
- 36:51at it, if we're feeding it in some manner.
- 36:54We're feeding them atrocity. We are.
- 36:57And so…
- 36:57Tammy: I'm gonna take it a step further, too, and
- 37:01say that not only are we
- 37:03feeding it by that. We are feeding it by not having these
- 37:07conversations with our daughters. We are feeding it by not
- 37:11having these conversations with our sons.
- 37:14We are feeding it by just thinking they're gonna figure it out,
- 37:19nothing's gonna happen to them, we don't need to talk about… we
- 37:24don't like to talk about sex, that's so uncomfortable. But the
- 37:29thing is, sex is just the act.
- 37:32The craving is the connection, and until we teach our children
- 37:36how to connect to each other as human beings.
- 37:40As spiritual beings, we're never gonna get the sex part right.
- 37:48Clair: Isn't it interesting how,
- 37:52Like you said, no one wants to talk about sex, it's
- 37:55uncomfortable to talk about it, but…
- 37:57sex is literally everywhere. You can't turn on the radio without
- 38:01hearing sex. Like, people aren't uncomfortable about talking
- 38:04about sex. They're talk… they're uncomfortable talking about,
- 38:07like, the, you know, proper ways to go about it, but, like,
- 38:10literally, sex is everywhere. It's being talked about in the
- 38:13halls of schools, it's just…
- 38:15Tammy: statement.
- 38:15Clair: but it's… it's being demeaned a lot. It gets talked in a derogatory
- 38:19way instead of, like, a beautiful, connecting way. And I think
- 38:23that's the shift that needs to happen, is to…
- 38:26See a different, like, sex is great, and…
- 38:30you know, shine a better light instead of just, like, it's
- 38:33a thing that you are owed, or you are… or you're, you know,
- 38:37like, oh, he bought me dinner, I've got to give him sex
- 38:40now, like, you know, like…
- 38:41Tammy: But that it's just a rite of passage, and you
- 38:43get to figure it out on your own.
- 38:45Clair: Yeah.
- 38:46Tammy: Like, that just is mind-boggling to me. And
- 38:50honestly, until we moved abroad,
- 38:53I never really… like you said, that's what we grew up with.
- 38:58It's… why would it seem abnormal? I mean, that's…
- 39:01The way our parents did it, it's the way our parents taught us. I'll
- 39:06never forget my mother. The sex talk with me when I was a child from
- 39:10my mother was that it's when a man messes with you.
- 39:16Clair: That was a sex…
- 39:17Tammy: That was the sex talk!
- 39:19I'm like, I don't, what does that actually mean, right?
- 39:26Clair: So many interpretations.
- 39:28Tammy: We get here, and… it's just not…
- 39:32Like, we have a nude beach near our house, and we
- 39:37see families out there together.
- 39:40And it's just not a… you know, women on our beach here, on a
- 39:46regular beach, can go topless, and men don't walk by an ogle
- 39:52because her boobs are out, you know? It's just… it's not an
- 39:57event. It's not an occurrence.
- 40:00And… That is so foreign to what we are taught.
- 40:05In… in the U.S, I believe. There's no repression or
- 40:10oppression around sex. Now, it's not perfect here, don't
- 40:16get me wrong, you know, women are still
- 40:20considered subservient to men, and I believe that's
- 40:25a worldwide thing, but… there's no…
- 40:30You know, it's not taboo here.
- 40:33Which doesn't automatic… automatically make it interesting.
- 40:37to children, or mysterious to children. It's just, this is a female
- 40:42body, this is a male body, and that's it. That's just it.
- 40:51Clair: Yeah.
- 40:52I… something kind of popped up for me that I…
- 40:57think is a good message to get out is just with, like,
- 41:00dating apps. Like, you know, there's a lot of pressure,
- 41:04you go out with a guy, and he buys you
- 41:07something, a drink, a food, something, you know? And
- 41:09then there's this pressure on women to be like, well, I
- 41:12have to give them something back.
- 41:15But, you know, like, if you look at it in, like,
- 41:19kind of a crude manner, that's…
- 41:22So you go out, he buys you a $13 drink, and you have to give,
- 41:26you know, do something sexually. So that, if you're looking at
- 41:29prostitution, that's pretty cheap. That's a… that's a cheap
- 41:33end, right? Even a $100 dinner.
- 41:35And you have to sleep with someone because they bought you a
- 41:38$100 dinner and you feel bad. Still, if you're working the
- 41:41streets, that's the cheaper end. Like, you're prostituting
- 41:44yourself out, but it's on an app, so it's…
- 41:46it seems like that's okay, because that's how it is, but it's,
- 41:49you know, men would be forking out a lot more money if they were
- 41:53actually getting girls off the streets and having to pay for the
- 41:56services that they think buying a dinner for them is. So I
- 41:59think, you know, if you start looking at it that way, it kind of
- 42:03is like, oh, yeah.
- 42:04Like, I, you know, you gave me $50 in food, like, you
- 42:08gotta… like, that's… that's nothing, like…
- 42:11I don't know, like, have more value.
- 42:13Tammy: about my kid, who is 26 and female, and, she… this was a few years
- 42:19ago, but she said, Mama, when a guy asks you out, are you supposed to
- 42:26pay for dinner? Are you supposed to pay for your own?
- 42:31And I said, well, you know, what do you think about that?
- 42:35And she said, well, I don't think I want to pay for my own
- 42:39dinner. I mean, I'm perfectly capable of taking myself out
- 42:43to eat, and I enjoy my own company.
- 42:45You know, if somebody asks me out, I think they should pay for it.
- 42:49For… for my company, during dinner.
- 42:53And I was like, well, that sounds fair to me!
- 42:56So, go for it, and that's… that's sort of the way that she
- 42:59thinks, too. She's just… and it's not about sex. She doesn't
- 43:03feel pressured for sex, it's just a…
- 43:06That's great! If you want to ask me out, if we're gonna go
- 43:09out as friends, I'm happy to pay for my share. I'm happy
- 43:13to pay for you if you need me to.
- 43:15But if you're asking me out on a date, I'm
- 43:18gonna expect you to pay for me.
- 43:22And, when I was dating, I was…
- 43:31this has been well over 10 years ago, because I've
- 43:35been married for 10 years now, 9 years.
- 43:39But I was dating women.
- 43:43And went on a date with a woman, and had a nice time. It was
- 43:48a really, you know, it was just a nice date. It was just a
- 43:53nice date. And at the end of the date,
- 43:57She walked me to my car, and the whole stealing a kiss thing
- 44:01came in. Like, she leaned in and kissed me.
- 44:04And I've pulled back, and later…
- 44:09She said, you know, I'm sorry if that offended you.
- 44:13And, you know, my first response, because this is how we're
- 44:16programmed, is to say, oh, it's alright, there's nothing wrong,
- 44:19and I didn't. I said, you know, I was offended.
- 44:22Because I didn't give you permission to kiss me, and I didn't
- 44:27ask you to kiss me. And while I can appreciate the initiative
- 44:32that you took, it wasn't welcome.
- 44:35So, you know, you may want to keep that in mind. Next time
- 44:40you go out on a date with someone, just ask.
- 44:44Clair: Yeah, or yeah, make sure you're getting clear green light signs, like,
- 44:48you know, I think when someone wants to be kissed, there's clear
- 44:52signs. It's not arms folded, standing back, trying to lean away,
- 44:56that's not a time to try to attack someone, but…
- 44:59Tammy: Or just ask, you know? We get to use our words.
- 45:03Clair: We get to, yeah.
- 45:07Lori: Yeah, and I'm gonna say sometimes our, our words,
- 45:12Might betray us, depending on what kind of mental state we're
- 45:16in, what kind of, substances we have in our body.
- 45:20Clair: True.
- 45:21Tammy: That's a good point.
- 45:23Lori: It's never okay if someone is impaired.
- 45:26And if someone is taken advantage of, ever.
- 45:30True. I found myself in a situation where that almost happened
- 45:34with me, and I luckily had a couple friends show up.
- 45:38Because I was not in a state where I could have responded at all.
- 45:43Tammy: Yeah.
- 45:44Well, and Clair was right, too, in the way that she's teaching
- 45:49her son with the cats. You do get to listen to more than just
- 45:53words, because I'm gonna tell you from personal experience as a
- 45:58woman in the professional world.
- 46:00There have been many times when I have felt pressured.
- 46:06To do something that even a boss may be asking me to do that
- 46:11has nothing to do with sex, not sexual at all. But there,
- 46:15when someone is in a level of power.
- 46:19that is greater than the level that you are at, there
- 46:24is an unspoken pressure to acquiesce.
- 46:28For your own safety, whether that's to keep your job, to get
- 46:33a promotion, to… Be considered professional.
- 46:38Because I think all of us as women have
- 46:41been in situations where we've
- 46:45Done things that we did not want to do.
- 46:50That our whole intuition and gut instinct were telling
- 46:54us was wrong for us. And we've done it because there
- 46:58was a threat of losing something.
- 47:02Lori: And you're in survival mode in that.
- 47:04Tammy: I'm late.
- 47:04Lori: And so, you're… you feel you don't have another… another choice.
- 47:09When in fact, we do have other choices.
- 47:13It may not be easy to see in the moment.
- 47:17But yeah.
- 47:19Clair: I think, that's a huge… Topic to acknowledge, also, is
- 47:26when you're in survival mode, you know? Like,
- 47:29there were things that I did.
- 47:31because I was in survival mode, like, my whole life, just
- 47:35because that's what I knew to do. And so, you can look back at
- 47:38it and, you know, be like, well, that was your fault, because
- 47:42you didn't do this, or that was your fault. And I was like, I… I
- 47:46wasn't really connected to my mind. I was solely trying to,
- 47:49like, get through the day.
- 47:51without being hurt, you know? Like…
- 47:53Tammy: Right.
- 47:54Clair: And your mind is different. Like, I don't know if people who haven't
- 47:59experienced being in prolonged survival mode don't realize
- 48:04How your brain is different, how things aren't clear, how you're just…
- 48:09you're willing to do things you normally would not, just because you
- 48:13want the situation to be over, or, you know…
- 48:16So, I think…
- 48:17Tammy: So that you don't want to be outcast.
- 48:20You don't want to be separated from the group, or from
- 48:24society, or from the family, or whatever it is.
- 48:31Clair: Yeah.
- 48:33Lori: I mean, that brings up that group of, what was it, 57, wherever it
- 48:38was, the people all on the text messages or messaging board. And, you
- 48:42know, nobody stepping up and saying that this is wrong.
- 48:47stepping up and stepping in, because you know there were people in
- 48:51there feeling that in their bodies, and they were getting the
- 48:55messages, this is wrong, but yet they're not stepping up. That's
- 48:59called willful blindness. I mean, and you're not excluded from
- 49:03that. You're just as responsible.
- 49:05For not speaking up.
- 49:07But that…
- 49:08Tammy: That is another, from a victim standpoint, that is another
- 49:12case of not wanting to be outcast from the group.
- 49:16Lori: That is true, absolutely.
- 49:17Tammy: Always. It's both sides.
- 49:21Lori: Yeah. Yeah.
- 49:23And it's just like, I'm ready for us to get to the point
- 49:27where we all can just speak out and take care of each
- 49:30other. If we see something wrong.
- 49:33Tammy: Let's so good.
- 49:33Lori: and say something. And yes, there may be something
- 49:36that's happening around us. That's not for us. You'll
- 49:40feel that, but if somebody is being…
- 49:42Attacked, injured, hurt, you know, if there's something we can do to
- 49:46help, let's… if it's nothing else but just yelling and bringing
- 49:50awareness and attention that something is happening.
- 49:53Let's stop.
- 49:54Clair: Yeah.
- 49:54Lori: of each other!
- 49:57I mean, like Tammy's mentioned before, we're all wounded souls walking
- 50:02around this planet, and we're all here doing our best to make our way
- 50:08through and find our way back home after this place.
- 50:12The least we can do is love each other, and be here for each
- 50:16other, and hold space for each other, like, clear, that's what
- 50:20we're doing with the three of us today, holding space together,
- 50:24and allowing your very vulnerable story to be shared, letting
- 50:28other people know you're not alone.
- 50:31you know, ask for help. There's people out there, and it's amazing
- 50:35to me what I've seen when people actually speak out, just into the
- 50:39universe, and they're ready for the help.
- 50:42Speak it out, and this universe will move. People will come into
- 50:46your life, people will show up that can help you.
- 50:49like Clair mentioned, different modalities, different things
- 50:53that resonated with her during her healing journey after this,
- 50:56and I know you're still healing, we all are.
- 50:59But…
- 51:00you know, you take what resonates. You put yourself there, and you're
- 51:04like, oh my goodness, this is speaking to me. And then at some point,
- 51:08you may have what you need there, and another teacher or more
- 51:11information will show up when you're ready.
- 51:14Tammy: Yeah.
- 51:14Clair: It truly does work like that, like, you just…
- 51:18you're not ready for the final, like, if, you know, like, you had to
- 51:21take the little steps, and they're… they can be frustrating, and it
- 51:25can seem like it's taking forever, and you have to, you know, learn
- 51:29all these little lessons along the way, like…
- 51:31patience, and self-love, and all of the… you know, these are
- 51:35all, like, little subtopics of… of the big healing, but
- 51:39without them, you're… you're not… you don't have the weight
- 51:43when you're done. Like, you're just…
- 51:46You have to go through all of that tedious little steps by steps.
- 51:51And, you know, the more… the more…
- 51:56Well, I lost that thought, but… yeah.
- 51:59It's just, you know, I think it's so important, like you said,
- 52:02people on that call, I don't know what you're talking about,
- 52:05because I don't really watch the news, but…
- 52:07we're filling in their body, and I think that's
- 52:10something, you know, I know I teach my child, and…
- 52:13is to really feel in your body. If… does that feel good in your
- 52:17body, or does it feel like it might feel good socially.
- 52:20It might feel good, like, your friends are gonna think you're
- 52:24cool, but does it feel good in your body? And to, like, really
- 52:28follow that instead of fitting in, and, you know, like, it is
- 52:32hard, because no one wants to be ostracized. We are, like, a
- 52:35community species.
- 52:37So to be the one that's like, hey guys.
- 52:40let's not do that, you know, that's… that's gonna ostracize you.
- 52:44They're gonna turn on you, and now you're the point of focus of
- 52:47people, you know, and that's a terrifying thing at any age, but
- 52:51especially when you're younger and just learning social skills.
- 52:55It's, you know, you don't want to be the…
- 52:57pariah of any situation, and so you just keep your mouth shut, or…
- 53:02you know, I was teaching him the other day, like, if
- 53:05something happened, if all his friends were, like.
- 53:08Picking on someone, you know, like…
- 53:10what to do in that situation, and not necessarily, like, you don't
- 53:14need to, like, have a lecture and be like, guys, you shouldn't do
- 53:17that, you know, just be like, hey, let's move on, you know? Like,
- 53:20let's… distraction, just kind of move them away from it, you know?
- 53:23You don't have to… you don't have to teach them a lesson if that's
- 53:26uncomfortable, just, like, suggest a different activity, you know, like…
- 53:30Because kids have these tools in their toolbox.
- 53:34to know, because these situations come up, you know, and it's
- 53:37awkward, and you feel that heat in your body, like, oh, I need to do
- 53:41something, and, you know, to be able to execute that, and just, you
- 53:44know, who knows? There's probably other people in that group that are
- 53:48feeling the same, and if you do it.
- 53:50I think it's gonna be easier and easier for more and more people to
- 53:54stand up until we all are in a place of, like, sovereignty.
- 53:57that we can stand up for ourselves, even in a group. Like, then, you
- 54:01know, that this group mentality doesn't need to be any longer. It
- 54:05can be, like, we're all individuals gathered together, and, you
- 54:08know, just because this guy said something doesn't mean that that's
- 54:12what I believe, or, you know…
- 54:14Like…
- 54:15Tammy: Right. And, you know, we talk about the cost for doing things, and in
- 54:20a situation like this, one of the first things I think of is
- 54:24accountability. We all are big to say, we need to hold somebody
- 54:29accountable, they need to be held accountable.
- 54:32And yes, they do. However, there's another cost that comes
- 54:37with staying silent. There's another cost with going against
- 54:43what your body is telling you is clearly the right path for
- 54:48you. The cost is that disconnection.
- 54:52This sacred connection that we are craving with each other,
- 54:57men, women, whatever, this connection that we're craving is
- 55:03something we get further and further away from every time we
- 55:08dishonor our own knowing.
- 55:13Clair: Yeah.
- 55:22Lori: Well, I just love how there are so many, and so many people are waking
- 55:28up to a lot of this, Tammy and Clair, as far as, you know…
- 55:32We've been so made to be distracted and disconnected
- 55:38And of course, you know, you'll hear me say also put in a
- 55:41state of being overweight and living in fear, and remaining
- 55:45ill because of the things that we take in our bodies. So
- 55:49we've got all kinds of things that…
- 55:51are influencing us.
- 55:54And… I mean, for me, the biggest thing that helped me
- 56:00along my path was turning off the TV.
- 56:07I mean, you think… you don't even realize it. There was… my
- 56:10husband had it on one day, and I don't know, it was on some sports
- 56:14thing, and some comment was… or no, it was just a movie. And he's
- 56:17like, oh, I'm not even watching it, but the person made the
- 56:21comment in the movie, and I'm not gonna say this verbatim, right,
- 56:24because that's, you know…
- 56:26I don't have it in front of me, but it was basically something
- 56:30to the effect of, I don't have any self- confidence or self-love
- 56:34or self-worth, something to that effect.
- 56:37And he's like, well, I'm not saying that, and I went.
- 56:41No, no, no, it's on closed captioning, it was just written out on the
- 56:45screen. I happened to turn around and see it up there, so I took that
- 56:49in. And my subconscious doesn't know the difference that somebody else
- 56:53is saying that versus what I just read.
- 56:56So I just told my subconscious that.
- 57:01Tammy: Yep.
- 57:02Lori: All the sexual things that are in everything are subconscious.
- 57:06Clair: consciousness.
- 57:07Lori: It's taking all of that programming in.
- 57:10all of it, from when we're kids. I mean, it's like in the
- 57:13Disney movies and stuff, too. I've seen all kinds of subliminal
- 57:17stuff that's showing up in Disney movies.
- 57:20You know, the word sex up in clouts.
- 57:23That's a subliminal message. Why does the word sex and clouds in
- 57:27a Disney movie, what purpose is that other than.
- 57:31Clair: We're.
- 57:31Lori: our children.
- 57:33I'm just gonna say what it is.
- 57:36We do not consent to any of that.
- 57:41Tammy: We do not consider…
- 57:42Lori: it. I'm over it. And so.
- 57:44It's just, it's been embedded in so many things, and our
- 57:49programming becomes our operating system, and until we turn it
- 57:54off and change how we are programming ourselves.
- 57:58I mean, we have to take ownership of
- 58:00ourselves, each and every one of us.
- 58:03And that's the best way we can show up in this world.
- 58:07And for the people who are the perpetrators, the ones who are,
- 58:11you know, doing the things, there's something underneath there
- 58:15for them, too. There's… there are wounds, there… there is
- 58:18possibly past life trauma, there's contracts, there's all kinds
- 58:22of things that may be coming in.
- 58:25But we still get to make a choice.
- 58:28We still get to choose, all of us.
- 58:32And I do say, if you find yourself in a situation that's
- 58:35uncomfortable and it's not healthy for you, ask for help.
- 58:39Find a way. Ask God, ask your guardian angel, your
- 58:44spirit guides, just ask the universe.
- 58:48And then be willing To accept the help when it shows up.
- 58:53Because it will.
- 58:55It will show up. Tammy, what else do you have?
- 59:00Tammy: I think that we are reaching the end of our meeting today, so, Clair,
- 59:05is there any last word… are there any last words that you would like
- 59:10to share with us before we end our session today?
- 59:14Clair: I think…
- 59:15We didn't really touch on, kind of, the men's
- 59:19side of how they can, you know, how…
- 59:22I kind of mentioned it, like, in my situation, how it was kind of…
- 59:27it just became a loop and a pattern, and so… but also to have a
- 59:31loop and a pattern from a male perspective.
- 59:34like that, it can be frustrating, you know? Men are more sexual than
- 59:39women a lot of times. They need it physically more. And so, I am, you
- 59:44know, in my healing, I have been able to put myself in
- 59:48his perspective, and see how frustrating that must have been, and
- 59:52how, you know, he didn't really know what to do either. We were kind
- 59:55of locked in this situation. So, I just, you know, I don't want to… I
- 59:59don't want it to end with any kind of…
- 1:00:01energy of blame, or… or hate, or… or any of that.
- 1:00:05Like, you know, like, we… we're both…
- 1:00:10In a state where that's what was happening, and…
- 1:00:13Also, I just… one last thing about healing, like, when that stuff is
- 1:00:17happening to you, you do learn to disassociate, like, you learn really
- 1:00:21well to dissociate, and so a part of the healing
- 1:00:24Was to return to my body.
- 1:00:28Which is a strange thing to do, like, a lot of the way that happened
- 1:00:33is I would have injuries, because when you have an injury, you're
- 1:00:37very much in your body, you feel that pain.
- 1:00:40And so, it's a way to look at a lot of the injuries I've had
- 1:00:44in gratitude, of like, you know, I've had, like, I've had a
- 1:00:48sore foot, and every step you have to think about, every move
- 1:00:52you make, and I'm, like, I've…
- 1:00:54I've been brought so much into my body, and so I'm
- 1:00:57grateful for that experience, too.
- 1:00:59You know, that's further healing to… to be in there, so…
- 1:01:03Tammy: Right, right. That's a very good point, Clair, and I want to
- 1:01:11expand on that as well. For me, I feel like…
- 1:01:16Addressing the situation for both men and women around
- 1:01:21really listening to what your body is telling you, listening
- 1:01:26to what your intuition is telling you.
- 1:01:29And understanding that there is a cost when you make a
- 1:01:34conscious choice for not listening to that.
- 1:01:38And… To… to use your situation as an example.
- 1:01:45you could hear your body, but you had no way to help him
- 1:01:50hear your body. And he could hear his body.
- 1:01:55But he had no way to help you. So, it's… it still comes
- 1:02:00back down in my mind, which is very simplified, to that
- 1:02:05sacred craving for connection.
- 1:02:09And…
- 1:02:10We… we have to figure it out, whether that's through higher
- 1:02:15consciousness, whether it's through language, whether it's through,
- 1:02:21just caring enough to hear what each other are
- 1:02:27saying. We get to… figure out…
- 1:02:31How to hear each other.
- 1:02:38Yeah, so I… I don't want to end this either on a
- 1:02:44note of, blaming or accusing or,
- 1:02:49I don't want to… Bastardize men. That is
- 1:02:56not the goal here. All of us
- 1:03:00need the healing. For women to heal will require men to heal, and
- 1:03:05we get to figure out how to do that together, and I think it's
- 1:03:10extremely important that we do that together.
- 1:03:15Clair: And that there have been men on the other side of this. Like, men
- 1:03:19have had… been the… the receivers of rape and sexual abuse as
- 1:03:23well, like, so, it's not just a man-woman thing, it's just the
- 1:03:27perpetrator, and women have been the abusers, like, you know,
- 1:03:31like, it's just perpetrator and…
- 1:03:34And victim, like… that… that dynamic needs to
- 1:03:38change. It's… it's not sex… Specific.
- 1:03:42Tammy: It's not gender-related, honestly.
- 1:03:45Yeah, that's why I mentioned. Okay. Well, and
- 1:03:48I guess if you think about it,
- 1:03:51maybe, in many cases, it is gender- related, just simply for the
- 1:03:57physical fact that men are stronger than women, and can overpower
- 1:04:02them in most cases. Women are much more emotionally
- 1:04:07adept than men, and can use that as a power to
- 1:04:12emasculate and ambassadize men. So it ends up being a
- 1:04:17really, a vicious cycle, I think.
- 1:04:20Clair: Yeah.
- 1:04:21Tammy: And we all get to acknowledge that. We get to acknowledge our
- 1:04:25part in that, and where we are unwilling to…
- 1:04:29Listen to our own selves, and where we are unwilling to make
- 1:04:35a choice about just doing the right thing.
- 1:04:38As it relates to us.
- 1:04:43So, Clair, I want to thank you again for joining us. This has been
- 1:04:47an amazing session, and I'm so grateful for it. Lori, as always, I
- 1:04:51love you so much, and I'm so grateful for you.
- 1:04:54For our viewers, thank you for sticking with us through a
- 1:04:58very important and sensitive topic, and we look forward to
- 1:05:03seeing you here again next week with us.
- 1:05:07Clair: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
- 1:05:10Lori: Thank you.