dear future healer, this journey is long, and arduous. you’ll need help along the way. it will take more than a village. you will need more than your given family.
dear future healer, it will be helpful to ask yourself: who is in your chosen family?
mine is easily over 100 strong. we gather at east 49th street in the dark of dawn, in a warehouse that formerly housed paint. here, we do Hard Things for about sixty minutes. importantly, we do this Together. we stay for an hour, but sometimes three. we may bring snacks, children, or dogs. always, we bring open hearts and honest eyes.
an overturned wooden box, once stepped upon thousands of times, now forms a table at the entrance. i look to it daily for tangible reminders of the meaning of this Family, for it holds hard evidence: tokens of love and caring. coffee brought for coach. handwritten notes wishing love and healing for another’s recent loss. a bag of candy, lovingly packed, name-labeled, gifted by someone’s seven year old - hand selected from their precious trove of halloween treats.
in this warehouse, sometimes at odd hours of day and night, we are diligent and focused, persistent and undaunted, unafraid and willing to lean into hard work. we take this approach towards the Hard Things we do with our bodies and the same attitude applies when Hard Things hit us in this life. we do both, together. we give freely when we can, of smiles and hugs and laughter and stories and precious, precious, face to face presence - in person time. we do this because we know everyone takes their turn to allow the cracks in their foundation to show. we show up for each other, tools in hand, ready to hold space and time for repair. this is the magic of my chosen family. dear future healer, this is how healing happens. in community; with your chosen family. dear future healer, you’ll want to ask yourself: who is in yours?
