Monday Mindset
The Courage to Bear Witness
Happy first Monday in March, friends!
This is a special month for a couple of reasons. First off, this weekend marked SIX MONTHS of Dropping In dropping into your inbox. (Time flies!! Thank you for being here ❤️ —here’s to what’s to come!)
March is my birthday month, so of course I have all sorts of affinity for it. It also ushers in longer days, brings warmer weather, and welcomes Spring. I hope that this month brings us all greater peace, joy, and connection as we turn our awareness to what springs forth.
The theme for this month is all about practicing presence (check out the Monthly Edition if you missed it).
This week, our focus is on having the courage to:
Bear Witness
"The only time you ever have in which to learn anything or see anything or feel anything, or express any feeling or emotion, or respond to an event, or grow, or heal, is this moment, because this is the only moment any of us ever gets. You're only here now, you are only alive in this moment."
—Jon Kabat-Zinn
To bear witness is to be present with reality. Oftentimes, it is offered in support of another’s experience, but we can also bear witness to the realities in our own lives. Creating space to deeply listen, acknowledge, and honor what one has gone through (and sometimes still going through) is an incredibly powerful—and often healing—experience.
You might wonder how you bear witness to your own experience. By journaling it, offering compassion to your younger self that lived it, or by sharing your experience with someone you can bring to light what was hidden. Practicing presence isn’t only about being with what is true in the here and now. It’s also bringing our awareness to what wants to be shared in this moment.
We set aside our judgments and reactions, and we bring a deep sense of listening. Without trying to fix, rationalize, or excuse what is happening, bearing witness allows us to bring dignity to the person sharing, as well as their experience of it. Yes, there may be support to offer in other ways, but let that come later. First, let’s learn to be with what is before we try to move beyond it.
Sitting in uncertainty, especially when that includes suffering, is difficult. Laying aside our agenda is necessary. Witnessing as an act of presence means attuning to what is true—recognizing the factors at play, seeing the whole picture (building awareness), and bringing empathy to the person(s) by allowing their humanity to touch our own.
“Bearing witness is a valuable way to process an experience, to obtain empathy and support, to lighten our emotional load via sharing it with the witness, and to obtain catharsis. Most people bear witness daily, and not only in reaction to traumatic events. We bear witness to one another through our writing, through art, and by verbally simply sharing with others.”
If it matters to you, it matters to express it. Silence can prolong the pain. Let what needs to be witnessed out. Share it somehow. Listen, too, to what others need to voice. Lean in close—closer than the initial glance. Look—really look—at what is going on.
As we listen with openness and affirm each other’s experience, we bear witness to each other’s stories. What a powerful practice this is. As we go about our day, let’s not just go through the motions. Let’s look for opportunities to pause and stay a little longer, listening and witnessing what matters—even if it only matters to one.
When was the last time you listened as a witness rather than waiting to jump in with your own thoughts?
Is there something in you (a story, experience, feeling) that needs to be shared? Consider this an act of storytelling—either in written, art, or verbal form. Move it out of your body and let the form serve as the container where it can be witnessed.
This is a practice, indeed. Be gracious with it. Be soft with it. Reject perfectionism and choose to connect even when you’re not quite sure how. The movement matters. The practice matters. Here’s to choosing connection because it’s worth it—no matter how clunky it feels.
Sending so much love today and always,
Sara