The Act of Speaking Truth
Hello Exquisite Beings,
Welcome to my first blog post from Exquisite Being. I wanted to begin this journey by sharing something personal with you.
The other day, I was playing cribbage with my 87 year old mom—a practice we began during the pandemic to keep our minds sharp and our bond strong and the banter back and forth has added that humor thing, which is such a great addition. It’s become a healing ritual for both of us. These days, she’s always eager to play, which has the added bonus of getting me out of some of those daughterly chores she used to assign!
That day, we were joined by my long time elder friend who is living with cognitive decline from dementia. It also happened to be the day after news broke about the United States dropping bombs on Iran. Like most of us, I too was heartbroken. When I entered her house, the TV was on, broadcasting the news. I asked if we could turn it off, but even just seeing it briefly triggered a deep, primal fear within me—my survival instincts flaring up in response to something so far out of my control.
We sat around the table, playing cards, but no one mentioned what was happening in the world. Still, I could feel the collective fear lingering in the space. The silence became loud and so did my fear thoughts. I started telling myself stories in my mind about how humanity was spiraling toward destruction —even as we sat shuffling cards I felt my breath shorten, my body tense, my tears welling. I remember thinking, well, if the world ends, at least I won’t be doing chores.
I glanced at my mother and noticed something in her eyes—she seemed unsettled, even scared. That hit me hard. I realized that perhaps no matter what age, there’s nothing quite like seeing fear in your mother’s eyes, especially when, deep down, you still feel like a child at times in her presence. At that moment, I noticed I was yearning for her comfort. I asked her gently if she was scared, and she couldn’t even find the words to respond. That particular silence stirred something deeper in me.
My body began to shake—fear taking physical form. I had to step away. It felt overwhelming and visceral, then almost unbearable.
So, like I do, I reached out. I excused myself from the game, called my friend & business partner Anna and asked if she could simply be with me—witness me—in my fear. In her quiet wisdom, she did just that. It was so healing just to be witnessed in my full humanity. My heart began to open again.
When I returned to the card table, I made the decision to speak my truth. I voiced my fears to both my mother and our friend.
That’s when something beautiful happened.
My mother looked me in the eye with great concern and a motherly compassion and began to share her fears too. I cried. But her honesty also soothed something in me. It was in that moment of shared vulnerability that I felt held. I was reminded how powerful it is to speak our fears out loud – and how healing it can be when someone else meets us there in loving compassion. My elder friend then reached out her hand, rested it on my arm and looked in my eyes with such quiet love, I of course cried again and let her know that she had always been such a peaceful place of acceptance in my life.
This experience reminded me of something I feel deeply: the importance of sharing our inner worlds, especially now. Our communal support, love, and presence with one another are what will carry us through. If we can sit with one another—truly sit, become still, listen, witness, and support—we can find true peace in our shared humanity. We can begin to trust that that connection is always available if we can allow ourselves to share ourselves in that honesty.
This feels essential. To stay connected. To remember that we are not separate. We are one vast experience, expressed uniquely through each of us. Life is showing up as us, through us. And in that, there is such beauty. There is such comfort in the human capacity to love.
In Exquisite Being, our invitation is for all of your humanity to be witnessed and loved. In this presence, Anna and I listen, reflect and love you just as you are so you have a space to remember who you are, which is love itself.
May your day be filled with peace.
May peace prevail on this Earth.
May love continue to show us the way.
With tenderness,
Molly of Exquisite Being
