“Trauma bonding” (Original)

Acrylic spray paint + paint marker on skate deck  Jan 2020   When we are missing key characters in our lives that play roles that are essential to our well being, we may become influenced by those that fill the void. These new characters may seem like they have our best interests in mind and for the first time we feel loved and cared for that we didn’t have before. We’re charmed by the pursuit and the good feelings we have inside of us - this stage is called infatuation. Then as time progresses on they start to throw tiny jabs that may seem like “jokes” or opinions masked as “because I want the best for you” type of thing. In reality, these jokes are ways to devalue us and those opinions that we never asked for are ways to control us & our future. Once we start to believe these misguided opinions, we start to feel the need to change. We change ourselves and start to lose ourselves while also losing them. We crave the infatuation from earlier that we thought was “love” and start to