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This concept combines the notion of "with" and "withness" to point to a way of being together that nurtures life as what is.
Withness points to our opportunity to be with people as fellow travelers on their journey rather than as distant observers of their experience. Sitting with someone is distinct from fixing them, seeking to change or challenge their state, or merely observing them from a distance.
Withness invites us into the mature form of empathy which sits beside rather than takes on the interior state of another as if it was our own. Doing the latter can make us so overwhelmed by our imagination of their experience that we can no longer support and hold for well-paced forward movement through difficult experiences.
Withness points to our opportunity to be with people as fellow travelers on their journey rather than as distant observers of their experience. Sitting with someone is distinct from fixing them, seeking to change or challenge their state, or merely observing them from a distance.
Withness invites us into the mature form of empathy which sits beside rather than takes on the interior state of another as if it was our own. Doing the latter can make us so overwhelmed by our imagination of their experience that we can no longer support and hold for well-paced forward movement through difficult experiences.