Love is Holding Space
I feel a panic around this time every year. It's November – trauma month. I never forget November 30. All these years and I still remember – and carry some of the trauma!
So in the past, every year around this time we would confront our trauma with some kind of ‘event’ usually having to do with Cliff’s art. I loved his art – especially his later art sculptures that documented his healing journey. Sometimes I would contribute my own art and sometimes like last year– I would launch a book. Miraculously the right people would show up and always say the right things – comforting us by entering into our creative expression – and just be with us.
I don’t think we always knew what we were doing - but whatever it was it seemed to work so we continued doing it.
In hindsight, I now know what we were doing. By collecting people around us and having them simply listen to us - they were healing us.
Why did it work?
Because, we all hold the power to heal others. Not with the tools of medicine, but with our natural ability to be present and pay attention. When we share this gift of listening with someone who’s struggling, it’s a way of holding space for them to heal.
Holding space is often described as bearing witness, as listening with attention and without intervention. It’s a disarmingly simple, yet incredibly powerful practice.
Love is holding space for each other.
"The truth is that things don’t really get solved. They come together and they fall apart. Then they come together again and fall apart again. The healing comes from letting there be room for all of this to happen – room for grief, for relief, for misery, for joy." Unknown
Come join us November 26, 2023 Sunday afternoon for our Creative Arts Celebration at Maplecrest and join us in the healing practice of listening to each other.
RSS Feed
