Finding My Spirit
Diane Nakamura took our Roots of Reconciliation in 2013, and has since gone on to complete it again in February 2018. An ardent supporter of the RTS process, Diane came back in June of 2018 to take Advancing Reconciliation and again last week as a participant in Prince George.
On October 29, 2018, I was assaulted by a street person, a Caucasian male who was trying to steal my purse. This incident resulted in me being left with a permanent brain injury and brought an end to my 34-year career in social work which I loved very much.
The severe symptoms of a brain injury in my first year of recovery caused me to have frequent thoughts of suicide. I prayed to the Creator every day not to have to wake up to another day of trauma and grief. When my migraine headaches, dizziness and nausea subsided I turned to alcohol in an attempt to make the nightmares go away so that I could sleep.
The man who assaulted me was arrested on the scene and spent six months in prison before attending a treatment program. In the months leading up to the trial, I kept hearing a voice in my head telling me to “forgive him”. I had both my professional and personal supports encouraging me to forgive the assailant in order to effectively move on with my life.
After many months of pleading not guilty, the assailant changed his plea to guilty. While awaiting the sentencing hearing, Crown Counsel provided me with a verbal summary of this young man’s progress. He had successfully completed treatment, was employed full-time as a journeyman carpenter, had maintained stable housing, was paying his ex-spouse child support and was regularly attending church. From the time he assaulted me until I faced him in court on sentencing day, he had been clean and sober for two and a half years.
It was on that day in court that I forgave this young man for what he did to me.
Participants connecting with each other at our Advancing Reconciliation workshop in Prince George, BC (October 2023)
What was done was done and I could do nothing to change this. I had also requested to the court that he not be sent back to prison, as this would unravel all of the work he had done to successfully re-integrate back into society.
I was not conscious of the fact I had done a completion with him until two years later when I attended the Advancing Reconciliation workshop in Prince George. When I made this connection I was truly stunned. Prior to being assaulted I had completed two foundational sessions (Now named Roots of Reconciliation) and one reconciliation session. (Now named Advancing Reconciliation) I now realize that I had kept what I learned through RTS in my sub-conscious, and I was able to recall these tools when I needed them the most.
In the not too distant past, I was a shell of a person. I felt at that time I had been stripped of everything that identified who I was – my worth and my purpose. I know now that my spirit had never left me. Despite my challenges I was still a whole person and nothing less than that.
Today I am living my best life. I will forever be grateful to RTS for helping me find my spirit again.
Our amazing group of Advancing Reconciliation participants in Prince George, BC. (October 2023)
When asked on Day 1 of our October Advancing Reconciliation Workshop “What insights have developed for you since the workshop?” Diane shared her gratitude towards the process by detailing how she accessed tools during a pivotal time in her life. Diane’s sharing profoundly demonstrated for the circle how her RTS experiences gave her strength to access her self-expression when she most needed it. We were all moved by her sharing.
