Figuring out how to actively address trauma maybe one of the most difficult challenges in regard to mental health. For Clayton a man in his 60s it was writing his own memoir. For the longest time he couldn't put the pieces together to figure out how to move forward from his life's greatest traumatic experience, a school shooting his senior year of high school. What he did find many years later was comfort in sharing his thoughts and ideas and his experience in the most honest way possible, by telling his truth. He never thought his life would ever amount to anything special enough for him to write a book but what he found as he reflected on his experience was that sometimes what we need as people and what other people may be able to utilize is hearing about our experiences. It was a perfect day, like any other day and him and his friends went off campus for lunch, living their best life. Upon their return ended up in the bathroom when he heard gunshots and the building was locked down, he had nowhere to go, the only thing he could do was hide in a closet. But when the shooter found him and opened the door and he saw standing in front of him one of his friends, he did the only thing his body allowed him to do, he tried to remind his friend of the great times that they shared, how important their lives were to their families, and that this moment truly wasn't who he was. We all deal with grief and trauma in different ways and this story is one man's example of how he was able to move forward.
