One of the hardest things to learn how to do
is to simply be present with people and their pain.
To allow pain to just be.
To refrain from trying to change pain
or fix pain
or erase pain
or escape, forget, or relieve pain.
But instead to simply and powerfully
bear witness to a person moving through pain
surviving pain
embracing pain
and discovering for themselves
their own ability to bear it
to heal it
to discover its lessons
and to evolve into the unique awakenings
that can only occur as a result of learning how to transmute and transform pain
into something beautiful
and strong
and brave
and free.