I guess bear witness means to stay with the feelings from a traumatic event, feel the feelings and reflect on them rather than quickly run from them. When I bear witness, what has helped me is trusting the process that is happening, knowing that I can learn from what is happening, being more self evaluating regarding what I contribute to my problem, remembering that confusion often accompanies growth, knowing nothing lasts. Life has revealed what I just said plus emphasizing that life does to me (or at least it feels that way) as well as I do to life, emphasizing that change is always and the duration of anything or anyone is very brief, and have more fun and joy. The loss that comes to mind is the death of a mentor I relied on, and the coming home is coming home to me and relying on me which is an expanded and deepened me that includes him.
On Jul 19, 2024 David Doane wrote :