In Intentional Remembering

Dear ones, 

Can you believe we’re closing in on the holiday season? I can’t believe we’re already circling back around to this time of year! The pace of these last few pandemic years have felt endless and at the same time, full in a way that seems to have intensified the speed.

If I’m completely honest, I feel like I’ve barely exhaled since I wrote last year’s post on Grief, Joy, and Handwashing, and as we come up on Thanksgiving/taking and Transgender Day of Remembrance, I can’t help but be struck by the multifaceted and complicated experiences that this next week ushers in. As I sat down to write this letter I was struck by the way that historical and present experiences cannot be unentangled from one another nor can the ways that we remember and vision the wellness of our communities. 

There may be no simple one-size-fits-all answer to what kind of attention and self-care is needed this time of year but I’ll share that my goal is to bring some intention to this season. 

I want to be conscious in my celebrations and mindful in my mourning. I want to trust in my capacity to deepen into the grief and joy of this complicated and sometimes contradicting season. I want to commit to the narrative that true change will only come from the insight that follows this deepening and to be accountable that I’m still meditating on what it fully means to meet the challenges that come with these intentions. 

I want to invite you to remember the bright AND dark places of this past year with clarity so that we might breathe with increased grace and light into the next. 

In intentional remembering,

Traci