Spaces of Witness and Belonging: Reflecting on our conversation with Dwight Dunston

“I think runners, by nature, have this environment of excitement and energy and support just built into a race. It doesn't matter how fast you're running. You're just all together and you're all part of this big happy bubble of energy. It's always a feeling of belonging.”

— Sarah Davis

In this week’s episode, we reflect on our conversation with hip-hop artist, educator, facilitator and activist Dwight Dunston. His faithfulness in honoring his grief moved us both, as well as his openness to feeling joy, gratitude and reverence for life alongside, and in the midst of, profound sorrow. We were especially inspired by his musings on the beauty of being witnessed in community, which prompted us to share the ways we had recently experienced such a gift in our own lives — Naila at a community grief ritual and Sarah while running a half-marathon. Dwight’s sharing about his dad modeling for him at a young age that it was OK to grieve invited us to consider our own models of grief, while his commitment to ritualizing his grief made us think of how we meet the death anniversaries of our dads — and whether it’s possible to reclaim those milestones in more meaningful ways. With the shift in seasons and the year end drawing close, we also pondered the changes we are being called to in our lives — a question we would love you to consider, as well. As always, we hope you find this conversation nourishing to your own journey and that it maybe helps you hold your grief with more compassion, tenderness and care, especially as we enter the holiday season.

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