I’m in Chicago for work today and was walking around downtown when I stumbled across this exhibit consisting of photos of people who were abused as children. I ended up spending quite a bit of time, looking at the photos and reading people’s stories.

The photos demonstrate that abuse can happen to all sorts of people. The size and boldness of them, along with their accompanying text, communicate that people can recover. Survivors can dare to speak up to try to prevent abuse from happening to other children in the future.

Frankly, I can’t imagine ever arriving at a place where I could admit publicly to my experience. Sometimes I feel I can’t face my therapist again after I’ve shared something just with her. But I was touched and impressed by the variety of people who could. I feel inspired by them, these strong, beautiful people who want us all to move to a brighter, healthier future.