Cracked Wide Open

We recently wrapped up a Legacy, Love Letters + Heart Wills workshop series. At the end of the evening we each shared a word or three to capture our sense of the impact of participating. My closing words were, “cracked wide open” and that, my friends, is a precious, luscious way of being.

Some folks came to one workshop in the series, some came to a couple and others still attended all of the two-and-a-half hour workshops for a total of fifteen hours of time together.  And each and every moment we had together, we played host to our ever present guest, Death.

The certain yet unpredictable reality of our mortality creates the urgency we need to press pause, and contemplate who and what matter most.

Whether or not people started or completed a Love Letter or a Heart Will, this work supported them to reflect on the life they’re living, connect with other thoughtful beings about this wild ride called life and in the process unpack themselves a wee bit. The beauty of exploring together is that our individual insights have collective benefits.  

• When someone pondered the legacy of their maternal grandmother and it gave them a new insight into their mother’s way of being, I softened my judgements about my mother.
• When someone declared the value of their dance with poverty and privilege, I embraced my own story of being a working-class immigrant family living in a middle-class neighbourhood.
• When someone recalled the total and complete love of a dear friend, it inspired me to want to gift people with the same.
• When someone shared sorrow about knowing only the name and year of birth of their grandmother, I vowed to not let my dad’s stories go unrecorded.

I am a softer, bolder, more loving and present person because of this work and through journeying in community with the precious people who participated. Thank you.

What about you?

How have you learned about yourself because someone else had the courage and vulnerability to share some of their story?