Healing is a continuous process. It takes a lot of time, work, effort, understanding and self-awareness to understand the process of healing and help ourselves through the entire journey. However, healing does not happen in solitude. Often, healing requires a community of safe people who we feel happy around. “There is this prevailing idea societally that healing is supposed to make you lonely. Healing will change you – yes, it will mean you outgrow some people. You might feel lonely temporarily in transitions, but it’s not supposed to make you lonely. When we trek alone on the healing journey, that’s when we become lonely. Central to this journey is the cultivation of self-compassion—an ethos that invites you to extend kindness and understanding to yourself and acknowledging your vulnerabilities as integral facets of your humanity,” wrote Therapist Israa Nasir.
Here are a few things that are required to hold space for other people in our lives:
Mutuality: In any situation, there are always two sides to the tale. While it is important to hold our ground, we should also create a healthy space for understanding the other side of the story. This helps in creating more empathy and awareness.
Multiplicity: We should not be strict in our thought process to think that there can be only one perspective. In reality, multiple things can be true at the same time, and we should open our minds to understanding other perspectives as well.
Cooperation and collaboration: Healing also requires us to understand conflict resolution, problem solving and emotional regulation skills. We should learn to collaborate and cooperate with people to come out of our comfort zones and become better versions of ourselves.
Altruism: We should stop keeping score and a tit-for-tat mindset in any relationship. Instead, we should foster kindness and empathy. Also, we should understand that being kind and sacrificing for others are completely different things.
Reciprocity: Acknowledging and reciprocating the other person is very important in the process of healing. This dynamic should exist in a balance.