The Mice's Grandchildren

#188

Friend,

Have you heard about the cherry blossom mice study?

Because it’s wild.

Here’s a quick summation.

1. Mice were exposed to the cherry blossom scent and then given a little zap.

2. Those mice became conditioned to associate cherry blossom scent with pain, so that when they were exposed to the smell, they exhibited extreme fear behavior.

3. Those mice had kids.

4. Those mice’s kids, when exposed to the scent (but no zap), exhibited fear behavior.

5. Those mice’s grandkids, when exposed to the scent (but no zap), still exhibited fear behavior.

So I wonder, how much more different are you than mice?

Are there markers (literally deep in our bones) triggering us from our parents’/grandparents’ trauma that impact us without us realizing it? Is our inheritance not just our hair color or our height, but also our traumas and fears?

Maybe your weariness and your fears include something that happened to your grandparents that you have never even been aware of, or an incident that your parents only alluded to or kept secret from you. Their stories are more complicated than most of us will ever know.

We like to think that we have full control over our lives, but life is more complicated than that. Generational trauma is a real thing, but so is generational grace. We don’t just inherit trauma, but we inherit grace, love, and goodness. And I believe that grace is more powerful than our trauma, but both need our attention.

And so, we need to practice awareness of our body’s reactions that might indicate fear or anxiety. It might be something in our body (an elevated heart rate or that pit in your stomach), your mind (your mind is racing or completely frozen), or relational (you are shutting people out or desperately seeking attention).

The best thing we can do when we notice our reactivity is to move to a safe place in our body, mind, or relationship. When I go to a safe place, I am re-training my bones that there is a haven for me to be at, and I am capable of moving from fear to safety.

And this is where we differ significantly from mice. We can learn to move from reactivity and fear to peace and trust. It’s not easy, but it’s possible.

Love,

Aaron