Book Promotion · My Thoughts · Spirituality

An Emotional Trigger: Do You Have Any Idea!

Larada Horner-Miller
Emotional redhead - emotional trigger

As an incest/rape survivor, the results of this last election have devastated me. After the unforgettable loss in 2016, this tragic loss has triggered me again emotionally with profound consequences.

NOTICE:

If you’re a Trump supporter, you probably don’t want to read any further and you may want to unsubscribe from my blog posts. The world has changed!

An Emotional Trigger Definition

“. . . a trigger is an instance when you become physically and/or emotionally reactive to something that relates to the trauma you have experienced. These symptoms and feelings are part of your brain’s natural response to unsafe experiences from the past.”

Common Symptoms: Triggers

2016 – An Emotional Trigger Big Time!

In 2016 thinking Hillary Clinton would win, I sat in shock when her defeat was announced. I sat up until after 2:00 AM before she conceded. Lin went to bed earlier but came down stairs and asked who won, honestly thinking she had won.

When I announced who won, it shocked him even though he supported the other candidate. He said I looked like someone had beat me up. And that’s how I felt.

Why did I respond so deeply? He’s a perpetrator, plain and simple. On October 7, 2016, just a month before the election, this was revealed:

“In a video from 2005 published by The Washington Post on Friday, Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump can be heard making lewd comments about women to then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush.”

https://www.etonline.com/news/199902_donald_trump_and_billy_bush_discuss_nancy_o_dell_2005_recording

He became an emotional trigger for me with this disclosure, but I really felt this horrible information would crater his chance of being elected. It didn’t. My reaction continued through his four year presidency.

2020 – I Wasn’t Prepared for the Emotional Trigger

Thankfully, Joe Biden defeated him! I sighed with relief, but then sat glued to the TV screen on January 6, 2021 when he led a violate insurrection of our capitol. Again, I dealt with an emotional trigger with him and had to listen to him whine about his lost election which he never accepted. He just kept emotions stirred up for years!

2024 – A Deep Emotional Trigger

So, here we are! For many years of my life, I wondered what was wrong with me. I made three bad choices of husbands. During my active drinking days, I never understood my promiscuous behavior because I wasn’t raised that way.

In 1988, recovery saved my life. Since then, I have done a massive amount of therapy and recover for the incest and rape I experienced at the hand of two family members as a young girl. In 1993, I went to sexual trauma treatment in Los Lunas, New Mexico. I had focused on one perpetrator when I went into CoDA (Codependence Anonymous) treatment in 1988. In Los Lunas, I focused on the second one. Now I understand my behavior and know my limits and emotional triggers.

So, the Republican candidates for president and vice president emotionally trigger me deeply with their misogynist comments and posturing. Couple that with the horrendous attacks on women’s rights, and it’s too much.

Therefore, that’s why I can’t stay here!

I’ll end with a haiku I wrote this last week. The first two lines came from my sand play therapy many years.

I’m Marilyn Monroe.

I’m a Samurai warrior.

Don’t f**k with me now!

Finally,

I had to be vulnerable today because one of my great-nieces shared deeply her concerns on social media last week, and I told her I was sharing my story in my blog post. My power today as a woman is my story and telling it. One of my perpetrators tried to silence me many years ago—no more!

If you relate to my story at all, let me know. If you need help, get in touch with the resources listed below or email me at larada@icloud.com and we can talk.

RESOURCES FOR SEXUAL TRAUMA

EXCITING NEWS:

I’m so excited and relieved. I wanted to release this book in August but the dog attack delayed it! Just this week, I released my ninth book, Was It a Dream?: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry.  It’s available as a paperback or an e-book on Amazon.

LOTS AND LOTS OF SALES COMING YOUR WAY, SO BE SURE AND OPEN ANY EMAILS FROM ME!

Published by Larada Horner-Miller

Larada Horner-Miller is a poet, essayist and accomplished multi-genre author who holds a bachelor’s degree in English, with a minor in Spanish and a master of education degree in Integrating Technology into the Classroom. She is the accomplished author of eight award-winning biographies, historical fiction, memoir, and poetry works and three audiobook’s plus three self-published cookbooks. Her most recent book, Was It a Dream?: Navigating Life’s Journey Through Poetry is a finalist in the Global Book Awards. As is our book released last year, Hair on Fire: A Heartwarming & Humorous Christmas Memoir. Horner-Miller has also been a past national presenter at the Women Writing the West Conference and is currently the creator of Memoir Workshops for others who want to share their family’s legacies through words. Larada and her husband, Lin, enjoy being nestled in the mountains above Albuquerque, New Mexico, near the village of Tijeras. When not writing books, this passionate, energetic, and enthusiastic woman loves to spend time kicking up her heels at square dancing gatherings, traveling, knitting, and reading. As co-manager of her family’s southeastern Colorado ranch, she enjoys spending time exploring her family’s historic ranch and reminiscing with her brother and his children about their mom, dad, and granddad.

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