{"id":38606,"date":"2026-02-19T22:53:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-20T04:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?page_id=38606"},"modified":"2026-02-26T02:00:49","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T08:00:49","slug":"growth-and-healing","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/?page_id=38606","title":{"rendered":"Growth and healing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Healing rarely looks like healing while you\u2019re living through it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What feels like confusion, loss, shame or collapse is often the painful work of becoming more honest, more self-aware and more fully human.<\/p>\n

These essays explore the inner landscape of growth: confronting old wounds, questioning inherited beliefs and learning \u2014 sometimes slowly \u2014 how to live with greater clarity, resilience and self-compassion.<\/p>\n

▶ I wasn\u2019t allowed to express need, so I\u2019ve spent life traveling alone<\/a><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A deeply personal reflection on childhood emotional repression, fear of expressing needs, and the long, lonely journey toward vulnerability and healing.<\/p>\n

▶ A childhood belief haunts me: unless I\u2019m perfect, I\u2019m unloved<\/a><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A reflection on childhood conditioning, perfectionism and the false belief that love must be earned through flawlessness, achievement and control.<\/p>\n

▶ Social media can be dangerous for those of us raised by narcissists<\/a><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A reflective warning about how social media amplifies approval-seeking, triggering shame, insecurity and unhealthy patterns in those shaped by narcissistic environments.<\/p>\n

▶ Midlife becomes big crisis when our self-deception stops working<\/a><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

Thoughts on mid-life collapse, shedding lifelong self-deceptions and rebuilding identity through humility, clarity and a more grounded vision of self.<\/p>\n

▶ What if narcissistic vampire bit me but he never finished the job?<\/a><\/b><\/b><\/p>\n

A reflective exploration of inherited shame, narcissistic conditioning and the conscious choice to reject false selves, abuse patterns and self-deception.<\/p>\n

<\u2014 Back to main Welcome page<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Healing rarely looks like healing while you\u2019re living through it. What feels like confusion, loss, shame or collapse is often the painful work of becoming more honest, more self-aware and more fully human. These essays explore the inner landscape of growth: confronting old wounds, questioning inherited beliefs and learning \u2014 sometimes slowly \u2014 how to Keep Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":38031,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page_landing.php","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-38606","page","type-page","status-publish","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P1x9iR-a2G","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38606","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=38606"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38606\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":38654,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38606\/revisions\/38654"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/38031"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davidmcelroy.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=38606"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}