It is hot, sweetens my breath.
Now it is almost burning my mouth.
It reminds me of a warm heart inside of me.

When it’s starting to burn my mouth, it reminds me of the pain
Our hearts hold inside ourselves from the long years
We have been alive.

Now my hand is sore and my tongue is burning
As it melts away in my mouth.

Now it reminds me of how our pain goes away
As we get to be healthier,
As we grow from our heart’s being in pain,
To a healthy loving person God gave us life to be.
— Kris

Fortunately, writing this way allows writers to choose where and how far they want to go with an idea or feeling. We each seemed to know when we were able to go deeper, and as the group became closer, we felt safe to try new or difficult things together. At times this meant going on gut instinct.

Respect and Compassion

I think the greatest strengths that Laurie and I brought as facilitators were genuine respect and compassion. I never felt that an emotionally honest response created a distance between my students and me. I was particularly concerned about the choices one woman was making, and told her how concerned I was for her safety. Rather than acting challenged and withdrawing from me, she stayed open to talking. We created a safety plan for her for the days to follow. At day's end, when I found myself revisiting things she had told me, my learning about self-care from the VALTA course provided a much-needed relief. I was grateful to already know what I needed to do for myself as I had planned for this eventuality with my husband. I wasn't so strongly affected by every story I heard, but I have felt that my ability to be open to and moved by the relationships I built with my students allowed for a connection that could not exist behind a wall of purely distant professionalism.