The Shoreline & Impact Zone (The Trauma)

In the previous newsletter I talked about my reflections from a recent trip to the Delaware beaches and the full metaphor of moving from the disruptive, chaotic wave break or impact zone by the shoreline of the ocean to beyond the wave break to calmer, deeper waters where you can ride the momentum of the waves instead of being constantly battered and thrown off balance by them. With this and the next few newsletters, I’d like to break down each phase of this metaphor and journey from the trauma or significant life or career change event that takes place at the shoreline in the wave break or impact zone through the transition zone in the messy middle of the waves, and finally into the deeper waters beyond the wave break where the post traumatic growth takes place.

We will start here with the shoreline and impact zone where the trauma or change event is first experienced. The shallow water near the beach is where the waves hit the hardest. This represents the immediate aftermath of the traumatic event. You are caught in the "impact zone," where the emotional waves are steep, violent, and unpredictable. You feel trapped in shallow, chaotic water where the waves constantly knock you down, making it feel impossible to catch your breath or stand up. You can see others beyond the wave break, smoothly riding the waves while you continue to struggle with each wave hit you experience.

What keeps you here in the impact zone? You know and see others beyond the wave break who aren’t struggling like you are now. But what keeps you from moving forward? Maybe it is lack of trust for yourself in being able to navigate the waves to move beyond the wave break. Maybe it is fear of the unknown, if the sandbar disappears and you are in over your head or if a rip current starts pulling you out beyond your comfort zone and taking away your sense of control and agency in how fast or far you move out. Or maybe you don’t trust yourself as a swimmer in case you do get beyond where you can touch bottom and are fearful of whether you can tread water and swim safely in the deep waters and ride the waves calmly as you see others doing. These are legitimate concerns and fears to take into consideration. So, how do you go about addressing and mitigating those fears?

In these situations, you are currently getting battered by the shoreline waves. You might be holding onto the past, feeling trapped in survival mode, or constantly reacting to the immediate chaos around you. It feels like you can't catch your breath.

This may include identifying additional resources you need to help you during this time to mitigate those fears. The lifeguard for example knows where the rip currents are and keeps a watch on you and others in the water in case you get in trouble and can’t swim as well. Who are the lifeguards and experts in your life that can tell you where the rip current risks are for navigating from the impact zone of the trauma through the turbulent waters beyond the wave break to the calmer waves that you can ride and bounce forward? These resources may be therapists, coaches, mentors, advisors, health or career professionals and subject matter experts (SMEs) to help prepare you to avoid the rip currents and other risks, teach you to swim better and navigate the transition zone to the deeper waters where you may thrive. 

In this stage, it is about being curious, creative and adaptive, identifying resources to help you where needed, and beginning to move with confidence from the impact zone through the messy middle of the wave transition zone. In the next newsletter we will talk about putting this all into action and what it takes to successfully navigate the transition zone and push outside and beyond the transition zone and wave break. You’ve prepared for moving and next we will talk about how to keep the momentum going to get you beyond the wave break and into the deeper waters of post traumatic growth.