Healing in Community: Healing Series Part I

Healing Series: A Note from one SisterFriend to Another

Healing is not something we’re meant to figure out alone. This three-part series, “On Healing in Community,” is a gentle invitation to remember that connection, rest, and being held are all part of our healing story.

These reflections are written especially with Black, Brown, and Indigenous women in mind—women who carry so much, love so deeply, and are often asked to be strong before they are allowed to be human. My hope is that as you read, you feel seen, and reminded that you are worthy of care, not because you’ve earned it, but because you exist.

Settle in with your journal, take a breath, and move through each post at your own pace. May you feel your healing supported by community, by rest, and by the love that surrounds you.

SisterFriend Reflection: Connection is medicine; we were never meant to heal alone.

“Rarely, if ever, are many of us healed in isolation. Healing is an act of communion.” – bell hooks, All About Love (2000)

Healing often comes disguised as connection—the moment we let ourselves be seen, held, or gently witnessed by someone who understands what our body and spirit are carrying. For Black, Brown, and Indigenous women, healing has always been a collective practice. Our ancestors survived through circles, kitchens, porches, laughter, joy, and shared breath.

We were never meant to do life alone. We were never meant to live in despair.

Still, many of us have learned to hold our pain quietly, to push through without pause, to believe that rest must be earned—that we are not worthy of care. But hooks reminds us that healing is not an individual performance; it is a communal experience.

Connection is medicine. Witnessing is medicine. Being held without judgment is medicine. Healing begins when we stop pretending we don’t need each other.

May you feel the strength of your communities—seen and unseen—surrounding you today.