Journal October 2026 Special DISPUK Release_Full Version - Flipbook - Page 52
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It9s about making the passive active.
When I write such letters, I often see how something shifts in the person receiving
them. They realize that they are actually doing something. That they have an
impact. That they matter—even to a place. I thus find that the letters can open a
new narrative about the people I speak with as active human beings, even in the
midst of vulnerability and discouragement.
Re-membering as a Practice
When we talk about re-membering, it is about re-inscribing oneself in
communities one has had an impact on, and not just those from which one has
received an impact.
White spoke of asking: What place have you held in the lives of others?
I sometimes expand the question to include places as well: What significance do
you have for this place?
It may seem like a poetic device, but it has a clear therapeutic function: it shifts
attention from passive reception to active participation.
When a person discovers that they have mattered to another person, an animal,
or a place, there is renewed movement in the story of themselves.
A Pine Says Thank You
As I write this, I find myself thinking of a pine tree near my summer house in
western Jutland. When I go out there, I feel a sense of calm. If the tree had a
voice, I imagine it would say:
