I cut my thumb chopping onions last week. As I bled, I tried to analyze the severity of the cut. All the while, panic invaded my mindshare as I contemplated what to do next. How bad does a cut need to be to warrant outside expert help? It’s a decision that needs to be made immediately.
As humans, we take injuries in stride. We accept our mistakes and overarching failures as just part of the process. But we’re able to do so because of how quickly we can recover from these sorts of ailments. Because we know our wounds will heal, we don’t take the time necessary to reflect on what went wrong so we might avoid such danger in the future. We convince ourselves to let it be and allow time to close the cut itself.
Healing comes in many forms. It’s not all the aftereffects of physical trauma. Humans are emotional beings that can feel great depths of pain through an altered mental state. These types of ailments may, in fact, be the most taxing. Unlike skin, the mind doesn’t automatically grow thicker skin to wash away a visible wound. The scars that go unnoticed are the ones that often can’t be treated.
What if we didn’t heal as humans by default? How would you do things differently?