Romanticizing Suffering...or Healing?

    I came across a post on Facebook saying that the capitalist idea that suffering creates better art is a detrimental view point that "romanticizes the (alterable) conditions that traumatize/overwork people & stifle our ability to create in the first place". And it (of course) got me thinking... I started asking myself "is that what I'm doing?" When I'm doing my best to see really damaging experiences in a new and slightly more positive way, do I use language that actually romanticizes the trauma...or am I romanticizing the healing process? I hope I'm doing the latter, but some of what I write does have me seriously wondering which one I'm romanticizing. There is nothing glamorous or flattering about suffering. I'm not a better person because of it. I'm a person who has been in a constant state of struggle due to it. I'm not writing this blog to sell suffering to anyone. But I do hope that I am mirroring some of the feelings other people have experienced as they work through healing their traumas.
    Suffering is a common root between all of humanity. There isn't a single person out there who isn't trying to overcome some mountain. Our suffering can lead to connections if we were to let it. But being that vulnerable in today's society is challenging. In the U.S., people have inadvertently given themselves and each other a timeline for grief, causing us to feel like we need to be "on" all the time, even in the midst of deep heart-ache.
    In my own life, I've had a couple people tell me their own theories as to why I'm not able to get over it yet or why it was so hard for me to handle my biological mother's phone call that informed me of the trauma and how she had figured it out. That phone call wasn't just hard because I suddenly heard concrete information that explained my trigger word. There's a lot more to it than that, but I won't go into it now.
    Again, there is no intention on my part to romanticize suffering or trauma. But if it happens to romanticize the healing process, then I can get behind that. Too often it's intimidating and discouraging. And yet, with a shift in perspective and the right people by your side, the healing journey is way less scary and way more possible.