Apparently, I’m a Time Traveler

I’ve been called a lot of things in my life.

Some of them weren’t very nice, especially during my using years.

But I’ve never been called a “time traveler” before.

The strange part?

The day before someone called me that, I had Black Sabbath’s Time Machine playing on repeat while at the gym.

It was my favorite song when I was young.

Back then, I would listen and imagine what it might be like to become someone I had never been before.

And looking back, that’s exactly what I did.

Instead of continuing down the road of drugs, self-abuse, and destruction, I got clean in 2004.

I became someone the younger version of me probably couldn’t have imagined.

Someone who now helps other people return to places in their past that may still be affecting their future.

Then, the very next day, Caleb called me a time traveler.

Caleb Came to Me Because of Pain

Caleb originally came to me after more than five months of foot pain and ongoing lower back pain.

After we worked together, he left a comment describing his experience.

He said his foot pain began improving shortly after our session and continued improving over the following months. He also said his back had completely healed.

But it wasn’t only what he said about the pain that caught my attention.

It was how he described the work.

He wrote:

“Shawn you’re like a ‘time traveller’ who can go back in time, slay these demons in which I could not see, and once they surface I can do my job and recognize them and finish the job.”

I couldn’t have come up with that description if I tried.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realized Caleb had put words to something important.

He also asked:

“When your mind is stuck in the past, how can you grow into the future?”

That’s a very good question.

Sometimes the Calendar Changes. The Pattern Doesn’t.

You can be completely aware that something happened years ago.

You’ve moved on.

Built a career.

Started a family.

Maybe you’ve even forgiven the person involved.

But then something happens today.

Someone criticizes you.

Your partner pulls away.

You feel rejected.

You make a mistake.

And your reaction feels much bigger than what just happened.

Sometimes you aren’t reacting only to this moment.

This moment may be touching something much older.

You’re not physically back there.

But your nervous system can still respond to rejection, betrayal, fear, grief, or another painful experience it learned to protect you from years ago.

That’s why consciously knowing “that happened a long time ago” doesn’t always stop the reaction.

The calendar changed.

The pattern didn’t.

Caleb wasn’t describing magic when he called me a time traveler.

He was describing what it felt like to finally connect something happening now to something from the past that had never fully stopped affecting him.

And that’s a big part of the work I do.

You Don’t Have to Change What Happened

Obviously, I don’t actually travel through time.

No DeLorean.

No flux capacitor.

And unfortunately, no opportunity to go back and tell younger Shawn, “Buddy, we need to have a conversation about some of the decisions you’re about to make.”

We can’t change what happened.

That isn’t the goal.

We’re looking for what happened then that is still shaping how you react now.

Sometimes that takes us back to childhood.

Sometimes a relationship.

Loss.

Rejection.

Fear.

A moment the conscious mind barely thinks about anymore.

The event may be over.

But the belief or emotional response created around it can continue influencing what happens next.

Who you trust.

What you avoid.

How you handle conflict.

What you believe about yourself.

The relationships you push away.

The opportunities you never take.

And sometimes, people also report changes in physical tension, discomfort, or other symptoms as the emotional stress around an old experience changes.

That doesn’t mean every physical problem has an emotional cause, and this work doesn’t replace appropriate medical care.

It means the emotional part of the story can be worth looking at too.

Changed Reactions Create a Different Future

This is the part of Caleb’s comment that really stuck with me.

He wasn’t only talking about his body feeling different.

He was talking about moving forward.

Because an old experience doesn’t have to be happening today to influence the decisions you make today.

And those decisions eventually become your life.

When an old emotional pattern changes, you may react differently.

When you react differently, you make different choices.

And different choices begin creating a different future.

That’s how you move forward.

Not by pretending the past didn’t happen.

Not by going back and changing it.

But by no longer allowing it to decide what happens next.

Maybe Caleb Was Right

The funny part about all of this is that I used to listen to Time Machine and imagine becoming someone completely different.

I couldn’t go back and rescue the younger version of me.

And believe me, there are a few years where I probably would’ve appreciated the visit.

But I did become someone he never could have imagined.

Now I help other people look backward just long enough to find what may still be keeping them from moving forward.

Maybe Caleb was right.

Maybe I became a time traveler after all.

Shawn
Sound Emotions Healing