Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittany Shelton.
Hi Brittany, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I come from a background of ongoing childhood trauma that included severe neglect, drug abuse, domestic violence, and sexual abuse. My formative developmental years were taken from me in ways I couldn’t control, and I grew into an angry, lost child. I carried my open wounds into adolescence and young adulthood-and I broke. Lost, addicted to drugs and alcohol, unable to connect with others, or form healthy relationships, I set out to self-destruct. I wanted to disappear, and I almost succeeded. My story is not unlike thousands of others. Growing up without supervision, deep inside of a dysfunctional system, not knowing where to turn, and having no one to turn to, I thought that was the end of the road for me. I couldn’t differentiate between who I was supposed to have been, why I was here at all, and the generational patterns I fell into and thought I was tied to forever. After a few years, face down at the bottom of my own self-created darkness, self-loathing, and despair-I found something. Hope. I have spent the last fifteen years living my life as a sober woman. A sober mother of three boys. Healing the spaces that I believed should have killed me and extending my hand and heart to the next in line. I have grown into a different person; leaving the weight of the shame behind me. Along the way, I learned a lot about who I am. Who I was created to be. And who I needed to leave behind.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My newfound freedom from the ties to my old identity has come at a cost. I have found that when I make decisions that make me feel confident or good or choices that fit me- I have undoubtedly hurt feelings and ruffled egos along the way. Sharing my struggles has healed me and helped me to empathize and connect with hundreds of other survivors, but it has forever damaged the relationships between myself and the family members I have left. But that is a price I am willing to pay to live a life that I choose-and not a life that is happening to me. A life that forces me to stay quiet stuck inside of shame, playing it small in order to try to create an illusion of peace is not the life I am willing to settle for. For the first time in my life, I chose myself. And I am proud of that even if not everyone is willing to accept or understand that my choices aren’t about them but are for my children and subsequent generations that will follow long after I am gone. I struggle daily with the after-effects of my experiences. Depression, anxiety, and attachment are my biggest struggles. I have struggled to recognize love, to recognize healthy relationships and boundaries, and implement healthy boundaries.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am a creator at heart- but it took me some time to find my voice, my footing, and my confidence to share the things that used to bring me so much shame and fear- with the internet. I started a blog in 2011 and had a crazy idea to write a book about my life experiences. I felt it in my heart and gut that these things needed to be said. I knew there were others who, like me, felt alone.
So I started writing. I was a stay at home mom, going to school and writing a book. I wrote all night while everyone was asleep every night for two solid years. I envisioned my own book sitting on the bookshelf in my living room. In 2018, I published my first book on Amazon, with an intent on making it easily accessible, affordable, and easily relatable to anyone in any phase of their healing journey.
I had been raised by an unstable mother with unmanaged mental-health disorders and a father who was alcoholic and absent most of my life. Not only enduring sexual abuse before the age of 5, witnessing domestic violence, the death of my infant brother, my parent’s divorce, and experiencing severe neglect before the age of 12-I fell into the same patterns as my parents. I was a teen mother. High school dropout. I felt alone. Ashamed. Worthless. And ultimately became addicted to drugs and found myself stuck in an abusive relationship myself as a nineteen-year-old.
I am not sure how I am still here-but I finally found out why and nothing was going to stop me from shouting it from the rooftops.
It began as telling my story through writing -connecting with people all over the world through my book and my blog and has slowly transitioned from this journey of self-discovery to showing others that it is not only okay to find your own purpose, but it is possible. No matter where you “came from” or how bad you think you have messed up your life.
There’s hope. Change is real and possible and you are worthy and capable of pursuing your purpose here.
I write and paint as an ultimate form of self-expression.
Those broken pieces and the dark parts of myself that I almost killed myself to bury and hide away from the fear of being exposed or being misunderstood—–are the exact things that God has used in my life to show other people that there is hope.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
I wish I would have paid less attention to what I thought people wanted and stayed more focused on authenticity. Ultimately, I have discovered that people generally crave, recognize, respond to, and appreciate –authenticity.
Contact Info:
- Email: DiscoveringBeautiful@gmail.com
- Website: www.DiscoveringBeautiful.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_blshelton/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LifeAfterChildhoodTrauma
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/_BLShelton
- Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1981006036/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_fabc_T6-aGbNKK15DZ
Image Credits
Zach Shelton Photography
