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Remember when all the chatter leading up to Thanksgiving was about surviving our family? Remember how we'd prepare to be triggered, practice patience with our intolerant kin, and laugh about sitting at the kids' table to avoid talking politics?
Or maybe entering holiday season brings with it a sense of melancholy and loneliness for you, and now it's hard to tell the difference between the holidays and the rest of the year in a pandemic.
Or perhaps you remember getting excited to see everyone, related or not, gathered around a table hoping the turkey isn't dried out, and the thought of not seeing your people this year is killing you.
Maybe you're having a hard time deciding what's the right thing to do.
I am with you in ALL of this.
Even as I write this, I'm not exactly sure what Goulding Thanksgiving will look like this year, and that makes me sad. Yesterday I came across this one line from the book Big Change, Small Groups, by Heather Zempel, and it cut into my heart immediately:
"Everybody needs someone who knows their name and knows what's happening in their life."
Isn't that so true? Read it again :)
And I think for many of us, this is what we remember at Thanksgiving and other seasonal holidays that are quickly approaching. These are often the times we are with these special people. They are the ones who show up at weddings and funerals, at parties and quiet walks or weekly phone calls.
It's about having a WITNESS.
And you know what is required to have someone know your name and what's happening in your life? You have to share with someone. You have to be vulnerable enough to let them in to your story, warts and all. And if that's new or hard for you, start with your SELF. And if it's easy for you to share but it's hard to sit alone in silence, start with getting to know your self.
And since this Thanksgiving is going to be quieter than usual, you can start right away. In this week's PODCAST, I take you through a centering practice to learn who all those voices in your head are, so you can identify this witness I'm encouraging you to know. You'll learn who is
- the Thinker
- the Judge
- the Witness
- the Wise Self
Did you realize how many people show up in that party we call a mind every day? It's a wonder we get anything done!
May you learn to love your Witness, know someone who witnesses you, and be a loving witness to someone else in your life.
Much love,
Jess
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