04/06/2026
Lawrence G Tirelo
MondayMusings ||
“The child who is not embraced by the village will burn it down to feel its warmth.”
-African Proverb
Bullying doesn’t just wound the moment. It lingers in your nervous system.
It shows up as:
• Tightness in the chest
• A racing mind replaying the event
• Self -doubt that was never yours to carry
• A quiet question lives within the victim: “What did I do wrong?”
Let’s be clear.
The victim of such did nothing to deserve being diminished.
Bullying is not a reflection of worth.
It is a reflection of someone else’s disconnection—from themselves, from empathy, from humanity. Sadly we so much of this these days in societies around the world and communities at our doorstep.
But here’s what matters most:
Healing doesn’t begin by fixing the bully. It begins by restoring the one who was bullied.
🌿 So how do we create calm and serenity again?
We can start here:
1. Regulate your nerves before you rationalise. In other words, the body must feel safe before the mind can make sense of anything.
Slow breathing.
Lengthen and exhale.
Place a hand over your heart or belly.
Signal to your system:
“I am safe.”
2. Separate identity from experience.
What happened to you is not who you are at your core.
Never internalise someone else’s distortion as your truth.
3. Create one safe anchor or several.
It can be a person, a place, or a practice.
Something that reminds you of who you are outside of the harm.
4. Gently reclaim your voice.
It’s not necessary to force it, and you can do so through truth.
Whether spoken, written, or held internally you tell the victim or yourself,
“That was not okay.”
5. Restore dignity through small choices.
Sit or be where you feel respected.
Walk away when needed.
Choose environments that honour you.
Reminder: serenity is not the absence of harm. Serenity,
is the return to self, even after harm has occurred.
And to anyone holding this internally, I want to tell you:
You are not weak for feeling shaken.
You are human.
And you are allowed to come back to yourself—fully. 🌈✨💐
If you or someone you care about is experiencing bullying, don’t normalise it.
Support, speak, and create spaces where dignity is non-negotiable.
If you notice yourself being a bully and mobbing against someone who never did anything to you directly: ask yourself what deeper personal wound are you covering up by your actions?
Love 💕always, Thea
