On this episode of Food for Thought, I’m with Carla Van Raay Author of God’s Callgirl, a memoir published in 7 countries and now the author of the book Healing from Abuse, a book that outlines the process she took and has taken others through to help them move forward.
Carla has led an astonishing life, and she has chronicled in her initial book, but then touches on elements within the next book, she talks openly about how her life choices moved from being the nun to being a prostitute and now author. Although these professions and callings seem very wide apart, she talks about how it wasn’t until her 40’s that she realised that she had chosen them because she was trying to understand and cope with the abuse she had experienced in childhood.
The book and interview show her incredible wisdom and she shares key elements on how to take yourself on a healing journey through the different aspects of emotions that you will have to use to heal.
This is something I have never experienced so we talk in the interview about whether abuse is in any way something you can heal from, truly at a deep level, and how inner wisdom and intuition are absolutely key parts of the journey. We discuss how after years of abuse you learn to establish trust again and boundaries particularly if it’s happened in childhood in those most formative years.
“It’s not an easy business to heal. Nor is the process a fast one. But positive results can show up when least expected; they can arise quickly, spontaneously” So true, and Carla’s perspective on this can only benefit all of us who are going through a level of healing, without adding in abuse. At a time when abuse is far more widespread known in the media and is less brushed under the carpet than ever, the world is a changing place and Carla show’s how the healing comes when you are moving towards having a healthy spirituality that promotes a peaceful heart.
Something we can all learn from Carla is how to move along this healing journey takes “commitment, time, a focus on the truth, and an extraordinary love of that same truth” I believe her words are not only powerfully supportive to those who have been in similar shoes to her, but also to those who daily are working to try and heal themselves. Love is ultimately the answer, and we discuss the challenges that she has set in the book to create long lasting harmony and love.
