Sheridan Hill

My life, and my work as a personal biographer, has taught me this: Life is a series of stories that you tell yourself; the worst mistake we make is believing our stories of victimization and repeating them in our heads, re-traumatizing ourselves and ensuring that we will continue to react instead of respond to each moment. Reactions rush forth out of past pain and are full of self-justification (the moral high horse); responses arise from an inner capacity to be-with-what-is (breathing into the vulnerability that love calls us to). I call myself a master griever because of the grief work that life foisted on me–no, graced me with–and am proud to work with forgiveness activist Lyndon Harris. I believe in the healing power of rituals as simple as lighting a candle with an intention, both as private actions and as moments of community-building and group witnessing.