When I write my monthly blogs, sometimes the subject comes easily—it speaks to me. Other times, it grows out of an experience or a workshop I’ve attended. This month, I wasn’t quite sure what I was meant to write.
As a practitioner, it’s important not only for me to give, but also to receive. I had been busy with work, traveling back and forth between New York City and Connecticut, and I could feel that I needed nourishment myself. I knew I was in need of a sound bath.
On December 10th, I attended an hour-long sound bath and Reiki session led by my fellow sound bath and Reiki practitioner, Nicole Rutsch. During the meditation, one word kept gently but persistently arising for me: forgiveness.
After the sound bath, I went to a film screening at the 92nd Street Y—Goodbye June, Kate Winslet’s directorial debut, written by her son Joe Anders.
The film stars Helen Mirren, Toni Collette, and Andrea Riseborough, and follows four siblings navigating their mother’s terminal illness during Christmas. It was a beautiful, tender, and deeply human story.
During the Q&A, the moderator and Kate Winslet spoke about the theme of forgiveness. In that moment, I knew without question that forgiveness would be the focus of this month’s blog.
What Forgiveness Means to Me
For me, forgiveness is the conscious decision to let go of resentment, anger, and bitterness toward someone who has wronged us.
A Powerful Story of Forgiveness
One of the most moving examples of forgiveness I’ve witnessed came from DeMarcus Ware’s Pro Football Hall of Fame induction speech. I was in Canton that year because Joe Klecko and Darrelle Revis—both New York Jets—were being inducted. Watch DeMarcus Ware’s Hall of Fame speech
Years later, his father came to him and said two simple words: “I’m sorry.” DeMarcus responded: “I forgive you.”
Forgiveness does not erase the past. But it can free us from being bound to it.
Follow us @HarmoniousHealingByLisa