Not All Chains Are Meant to Be Broken
By Krystena LuCastro · Originally published on Medium May 30, 2025
The misunderstood truth about generational healing, and why some chains should be built — not destroyed.
There’s a common phrase tossed around in healing spaces:
“I’m breaking generational chains.”
And it’s powerful — because some chains truly do need to be broken.
Chains of trauma.
Cycles of shame.
Inherited pain mistaken for tradition.
But not all chains are curses.
Some are legacy.
Some are resilience.
Some are memory, love, laughter, and protection.
The real work isn’t just breaking old chains — it’s discerning:
Which ones to let go.
Which ones to keep.
Which ones to improve.
And which ones still need to be created.
And here’s where it gets hard:
You can’t create something new until you’ve made space for it.
That means walking through discomfort — not around it.
It means naming your fears, noticing your patterns,
and facing them — not to shame yourself,
but to evolve.
Because the only way out… is through.
Growth is not erasure.
Change is not betrayal.
If you love yourself deeply, you’ll realize:
Becoming better isn’t abandoning who you are —
It’s honoring who you can be.
So yes — break what harms.
But hold what helps.
And start building new chains:
Chains of safety.
Chains of emotional fluency.
Chains of grace.
Of healing.
Of joy.
Of responsibility.
Of clarity.
Of rest.
Chains that connect, not control.
Chains that liberate, not limit.
Because this work?
This sacred undoing and redoing?
It doesn’t just change you.
It changes everything that comes after you.
Your ripple can become the tsunami.
Read the published version on Medium