There’s something transformative about putting your thoughts and feelings onto paper. It’s not just journaling — it’s an emotional release, a deep conversation with your inner self. In psychology, we call this “expressive writing,” and it has been shown to reduce stress, lower blood pressure, strengthen immunity, and even rewire our brain’s response to trauma.

But when that writing is paired with new music, the kind that holds no echoes of the past — not the haunting soundtrack of our darker days — it can open up a new emotional landscape. One filled not with triggers or sadness, but possibility.

And in that space, something unexpected can happen.

You might begin to feel something you haven’t felt in decades…

Loved. Cherished. Wanted.

Not tolerated, not needed for what you can give, not used or manipulated — but loved simply for being you.

From a psychological perspective, this shift is seismic. When someone finally puts you first, when you’re heard after years of silence or gaslighting, your nervous system begins to relax. The chronic hypervigilance begins to ease. The threat response fades. You come out of survival mode — and into connection.

This is the power of secure attachment, something many of us never had or lost along the way. When someone shows up for you, consistently and without agenda, the brain starts to form new neural pathways. You may feel like you’re waking up from a long emotional coma. You remember what it feels like to laugh, to rest, to feel safe in someone else’s presence.

And here’s the most tender part: you start to remember who you were before the world told you to be someone else.

When you’ve been neglected, manipulated, or emotionally abused for years, you start to believe that being put first is selfish. That your needs are too much. That love is conditional. But that’s a lie trauma tells. Love — real love — isn’t earned through suffering. It’s freely given. And when it arrives, it feels like home.

So today, if you’ve found yourself listening to new music, writing down your truth, or simply feeling loved in a way you’ve never felt before — pause and honour that. It’s not just a “nice feeling.” It’s your body, mind, and soul remembering what safety feels like. What love is supposed to feel like.

You are not unlovable. You were just stuck in an environment where love had conditions.

That’s no longer your story.

🖊️ Write. 🎶 Listen. ❤️ Feel.
You are allowed to feel loved.
You are allowed to be first.

— Linda C J Turner

Trauma Therapist | Neuroscience & Emotional Intelligence Practitioner | Advocate for Women’s Empowerment