As this year turns over, I’ve been thinking a lot about transitions, personally and professionally. I recently stepped into the role of board president at the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing here in DC, at a moment when the organization is both celebrating its 50th anniversary and preparing for new leadership. It’s a reminder that even joyful milestones often sit alongside uncertainty and change.
What I continue to learn from the Wendt Center’s staff, who have supported people through loss for decades, is that change is inevitable, and so is grief. Fighting it tends to prolong it. Supporting one another through it lessens it. And showing up for each other, especially when things are uncomfortable, unclear, or unfixable, can be the most powerful healing we have.
That idea stayed with me after a recent interview I heard with author Jason Reynolds, who spoke about caring for his aging mother as a form of prayer. “Prayer can’t just be asking,” he said. Support for another, when it’s difficult and uncomfortable–maybe that, too, is sacred.
I hope to remember this in the new year: that presence matters, that compassion does not require answers, and that how we show up for one another—at work and beyond—can make all the difference.
What lessons are carrying with you into the new year?
2 Responses
Katherine, thank you for the insights you share and provoke. I find that transitions, loss, grief and uncertainty are in my heart and mind, especially as it relates to interacting with individuals who are in great pain and unresolved trauma where forgiveness is foreign to the process. I pray for your success in this role and pray for more healers, helpers, hearers with a strong sense of identity to interact with the battle scars of others. Please do a series on “Wisdom for Healers”
Michelle, thank you for your kind words and for your prayers. The Wisdom for Healers series is a great idea and one I will think on. I am wishing you all peace and light in the new year.