To Witness & Hold

[The Stage is on Fire] is a page-turner in which, much like life, there are no easy answers and yet each step of the journey yields insight and hope. This work of heart must not be missed!

Melanie Faith

Creative Writing Teacher, Essayist & Poet.

Katie Steedly’s first-person piece [The Unspeakable Gift] is a riveting retelling of her participation in a National Institutes of Health study that aided her quest to come to grips with her life of living with a rare genetic disorder. Her writing is superb.

The Society of Professional Journalists

In recognition of receiving the Dateline Award for the Washingtonian Magazine essay, The Unspeakable Gift.

I thank you … It is the authenticity of your “class notes”; and it is the delicacy and skill with which you present the nuances of classroom life and the actuality of your students’ and fellow teachers’ lives.

Maxine Greene

Philosopher and Education Scholar

Enter your email here to receive Weekly Wide-Awake

back

Just as the warmth of summer can make a cricket sing, the quality of being held enlivens the heart. – Mark Nepo

When We Witness and Hold One Another

We create something bigger than was there before.

When we witness we speak and stand for truth. When we hold one another we embrace hearts that seek love. Witnessing and holding create. They create trust. They create wholeness. They create softness. Trust and wholeness and softness are big. They are large and expansive and benevolent. They are courageous and right and open. Before witnessing and holding, we are the static coming from a radio station trying to send a signal across a desert. Before witnessing and holding, we are magicians locked in a box with no way out. Before witnessing and holding, we are the lyrics to a song with no melody.

We strengthen our connections.

So much of our world is isolated and separated. Walls and hateful words witness and hold things that kill connection. It does not have to be that way. Often during tragedy we witness and hold the goodness in others in a sacred way. We instinctually witness and hold at those times. It is critical at this time we don’t wait for tragedy to witness and hold. Witnessing and holding must feel like breath.

We experience joy.

Where is joy in life today? Think about it. During a week day, how much time do we experience joy. During a weekend, are we simply surviving until the work week or are we creating joy? The joy of witnessing is the quiet lightness of truth telling and friendship. Joy radiates. Joy multiplies. Joy reminds us of life’s light.

We get closer to our truth.

Our truth can be elusive. Hiding underneath our heart. Whispering stories. Living in our layers. Witnessing and holding can bring us closer to truth as we carve through the marble to find our angel. Witnessing and holding can bring us closer to our truth as we create solid bonds with others. Witnessing and holding can bring us closer to our truth as our world begins to reflect our truth connection by connection.

https://kitt.global/july-6-to-witness-hold/