"This project came from research I was doing on shame and empathy. Originally I wanted to listen to stories of pain and, instead of doing a dramatic retelling, see what kind of work would be produced by simply creating a safe space for us to “BE” together during the discussion. What I found was that my boundaries were too fluid and I could not separate myself from the other. I dissolved into them. I think I may have discovered the flaw in my process. I twisted each story around my own pain, shames I had not let go, and that kept me from achieving a state of “Being.”  In order to move forward, I must first move back- practicing empathy for myself in order to find that space of “Being”."

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- Katie Strader