Survival and Surrender

Trauma does not merely dissipate with sheer willpower, nor does it fade away when ignored. Instead, it becomes an integral part of the body, mind, and consciousness. A persistent, invisible thread pulling at the seams in unpredictable ways. The conflict that arises is often unspoken, a low hum vibrating beneath the surface of normality, affecting everything from a hesitant smile to the speed of a racing heart at the sound of an innocuous footfall in the hallway.

The Tattoo Series contains three books: 21 Tattoos, The 7th Dimension, and The 6th Heaven. These books explore the effects of trauma and a man’s journey to save himself.

For Dr. Derek Hollinger to exist, day after day, with trauma seared into his most private synapses is not simply to remember pain, but to endure the ongoing negotiation between survival and surrender. His struggle is not rare; in fact, it is so common as to be an archetypal dull ache shared across generations, rearing its head in boardrooms, kitchen tables, silent bedrooms, and crowded public squares. Yet even with its prevalence, trauma is rarely called by name, and even more rarely understood as it manifests as a ceaseless dialogue between the body’s compulsions, the mind’s frantic strategies of avoidance, and the consciousness’s desperate grasp for meaning.