01/09/2024
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It seems to me that part of my life's work is to witness and sometimes hold other people's pain.
All my life, I've heard people's sorrows. To begin with, it perplexed me. What did my helpless witnessing of their distress mean? What could I do that would relieve an irremediable situation? How could I bear the pain that was being placed, with such trust, into my keeping?
Gradually, I came to understand that something important was taking place: that listening to and holding space for another person's distress gives them a tiny space to breathe, to adjust their load, and to find their way to carry on bearing it.
Later, when my own sorrows came, I learned to appreciate those moments of being seen, being heard, being held, that make it possible to continue carrying on.
I'm aware that in the year-end swirl of celebration and the ticked lists of achievement, there are many people whose greatest achievement this year is that they got through it. That is a great achievement. To carry our burdens, and yet also to touch tiny moments of peace, or love, or contentment, or joy, or triumph, or understanding - or perhaps several of those - is enough.
If you are standing on the threshold of a new year aware that the change in date doesn't change your burden, you are not alone. If you have no heart to cheer at midnight or to gaze into a new year with thrilling expectations, take heart.
You only need to tackle this year one moment at a time. We can chew the next year in bite-sized chunks.
Wishing us all a year with
Enough happiness to hold on to
Enough grit to create a pearl from our sorrows
Enough courage to believe
that we are
enough.
Be proud, my weary ones. You made it through another year.
🧡
