[Vulnerability and Power - XXVIII]
Collective Joy is powerful.
It’s more than the sum of isolated, individual moments of happiness. It’s a synergy of uplift. It both affirms community as a necessary component of life and embraces the common good of shared celebration.
Collective pain is powerful, too.
It’s more than a bunch of hardships coexisting in proximity. It’s communal lament. It both affirms community as a necessary component of life and embraces the common good of shared grief.
They are both powerful precisely for the reason they are often avoided: the insecurity and fear of deep human connection. To sit with others in joy, and even more so to sit with others in pain, is to bypass disagreement for connection, forego difference for communion.
Sit with someone in joy (or pain) this week. It will be a healing tonic for your soul.
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Reminder: the newsletter for my upcoming book goes out next week. Don’t miss it.
