Chapter 23
Cissy's Last Night
On one of Cissy’s wakeful nights, she told Valancy her poor little story. They were sitting by the open window. Cissy could not get her breath lying down that night. An inglorious gibbous moon was hanging over the wooded hills and in its spectral light Cissy looked frail and lovely and incredibly young. A child. It did not seem possible that she could have lived through all the passion and pain and shame of her story. “He was stopping at the hotel across the lake. He used to come over in his canoe at night—we met in the pines down…
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Critical Thinking Exercise
Practice Being a Safe Witness
Think of someone in your life who might be carrying a burden alone. Write down three specific things you could say or do to signal that you're a safe person to talk to, without forcing them to share. Focus on creating invitation, not interrogation.
Consider:
- •Safe witnesses listen more than they talk
- •Questions like 'How are you really doing?' work better than 'What's wrong?'
- •Your reaction to small truths determines if someone will share bigger ones
Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when someone listened to you without trying to fix you or judge you. How did that change how you felt about your situation?
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