In the midst of intense suffering, amazing transformations can occur. Sometimes it happens to soldiers on the battlefield, to prisoners of prison camps who are on the verge of starvation, to people who have experienced periods of addiction, depression, delusion, etc. I call this phenomenon “transformation through turbulence” (or TTT for short). I have been researching the phenomenon for 15 years and have investigated many interesting cases. In my book An unusual awakeningI will share some of these cases and explore what we can learn from TTT and apply to our own personal development.
Awakenings are unusual in two ways: first, because they occur in such unexpected circumstances, and second, because they have such an incredible effect. People are completely reborn as if they were completely different people. In psychology, there is a concept of “post-traumatic growth” that describes how trauma can have long-term positive effects.
In the long run, it can lead to an increased sense of appreciation and meaning, authentic relationships, a broader sense of perspective, and more. TTT is a severe and dramatic form of post-traumatic growth spurt. It often happens suddenly, in a moment of transformation. People are moving into a much more intense and expansive awareness. They feel a sense of well-being and the world seems more real and beautiful. They feel more connected to other people and nature.
Essentially, people spontaneously achieve a state of “enlightenment” or “awakening” as described in many spiritual traditions. They happen to find what spiritual practitioners have been searching for since ancient times.
An unusual awakening
At the age of 42, Irene Murray was diagnosed with breast cancer and told she may have months to live. Irene reacted to his diagnosis in an unusual way. As she described it, “It was the first time I saw death as a reality. I thought, ‘I’m so lucky to be alive.’
Irene expected the feeling to fade, but it didn’t. As she said, “It was really intense for the first few weeks, and it’s been there ever since. It just blew me away. I just sat there and thought, ‘It’s amazing how things fall into place so quickly.’
Fortunately, Irene’s cancer went into remission, but her sense of gratitude and well-being remained. He felt like a different person and quit his IT career to retrain as a counselor and therapist. Most of all, she felt a new sense of connection with other people and nature, and a new pleasure in being alone and doing nothing.
A woman named Eve had a similar experience after hitting rock bottom as an alcoholic. After 29 years of addiction, she felt physically and emotionally broken and walked out on a coach to commit suicide. At her parents’ house, her mother thought Eve needed a drink to ease her withdrawal symptoms and gave her a glass of wine. But Eve could not drink it. He was given a large dose of sedatives to relieve his withdrawal symptoms, and after a few days he felt like a new person, drug-free. As he told me, “my mother sat me in front of the mirror and said, ‘Look at yourself, you’re an alcoholic.’ I looked at myself and I didn’t know who I was. I felt like a completely different person.”
Eve was a bit confused by her transformation at first, but it soon settled and she felt free, with heightened awareness and a strong sense of connection to the world. He has never felt the urge to drink again and has been sober for ten years.
New reality
It should be noted that there is nothing religious about TTT. Although we can describe it as a spiritual awakening, it is actually a psychological experience related to the breakdown of the personality. More specifically, I believe that TTT is associated with the dismantling of psychological attachments (such as hopes and ambitions, status, social roles, beliefs, possessions, other people) that maintain our normal sense of identity. Breaking attachments and identity is usually a painful experience, but in some people it can allow a new identity to emerge.
Most of all, change through turmoil reveals the enormous potential and deep resilience within humans that we are not usually aware of until we are faced with challenges and crises. Although we often fear that crises will destroy us, there is a good chance that they will wake us up.
Steve Taylor, PhD, is the author of the work An unusual awakening and many other bestselling books. He is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at Leeds Beckett University and Chair of the Transpersonal Psychology Section of the British Psychological Society. Steve’s articles and essays have appeared in more than 100 journals, magazines, and newspapers, and he has written for Scientific America and Psychology today. To him online www.StevenMTaylor.com.
Based on the book Unusual awakening: When trauma leads to change. Copyright © 2021 by Steve Taylor. Reprinted with permission from New World Library – http://www.newworldlibrary.com.
