Glass - a healing journey.
James asked if I wanted him to clean the glass door. He knew I'd been avoiding it. In the two years since Kerouac died I hadn’t made any attempts to clean it. I wasn’t ready to wash away her muddy nose prints.
I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her, again.
But after ten years in this house in Seattle, we decided it was time to move. And someone had to clean the glass door.
I considered James’ offer for a second. Then told him no. I needed to do it. It was my job, my grief, my healing.
I always knew this moment would come - this particular expression of grief and healing. The cleaning of the glass door. I mean, we couldn’t just leave it a mess. And I couldn’t leave without exploring what was waiting to unfold in this seemingly simple act.
And so I cleaned.
With my whole body, I cleaned. With my heart and my soul, I cleaned.
With my memories and my joy and my grief - with my love, I cleaned.
“Glass” by Marika Moffitt is an expression of grief, love, and healing.
Let's wonder about the beauty in witnessing.
The idea to record myself cleaning the glass door came immediately after the discussion with my husband about who was going to do the job. I felt in my bones that I was going to need to have this footage to watch later. As I cleaned the door, the thought “Clean with me. Heal with me” swam through my mind. And I knew this was bigger than me. In the moment, it was for me, but the beauty of art is that it is for all of us.
In so many ways, our own healing is the medicine we share with the world. And for me, it's the inspiration for the art I create.
I know it’s not easy to sit in these moments with someone. It’s not easy to sit in them for ourselves. But witnessing for and with one another is what will heal us.
Tell me, what do you think, what do you feel, about witnessing? About being witnessed? What did you feel while watching the healing unfold in ”Glass” ?
Let’s wonder together in the comments.
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