Discussion about this post

User's avatar
Taylor Daukas's avatar

I pictured myself, unable to speak in a hospital bed but still consciously processing, hearing someone kindly speaking those questions / statements over me and now I’m crying. Thank you Mari - I will be sitting with this for a while. I’ve been thinking a lot about friendship too so I look forward to whatever you have to share with us 💌

Expand full comment
Michaela M's avatar

I’ve thought so much over the past few years about the concept of witness, the wonder of it. Midway into the pandemic and living alone, I realized that the term for what I was experiencing in my isolation was a loss of witness. All the ways I used to be seen and to see myself seen — in communities of friendship, creativity, faith — had been lopped off, leaving only work (I’m a real estate agent and I took on a new role in the early pandemic — when we reopened after lockdown it was nonstop). I remember saying in December 2020 that I was desperate to see my family because my family wouldn’t see me as my job, and I’ve never experienced such intense loneliness or anxiety as I did when, despite much more interaction than most with people in the outside world, I was subsisting on such a limited reflection of who I am. Building back into friendships and relationships with a fresh appreciation of what it means to witness to one another’s fullness has filled me with gratitude — as reading this did today. Thank you Mari. ❤️

Expand full comment
46 more comments...

No posts