A gathering to name and be witnessed in what you’ve been carrying.

Our culture marks the beginnings: baby showers, launch parties, weddings, and the endings: retirement parties, funerals, farewells. But we rarely mark what happens after. The slow identity shift. The getting-legs-under-us. The aftermath that has no party, no card, no ritual.

Retiring after decades of identity built around work. Becoming a caretaker for aging parents. Grieving a friendship that you thought would never end. These are some of the most universal human experiences there are, and yet we walk through them alone, without language, without witness, wondering if the grief that we feel is even worthy of attention. When we perform that we’re okay instead of being honest about what we’re holding, we lose touch with ourselves – and with each other. Our aliveness is bound up together.

This free workshop led by Caitie Hilverman, writer of the Hudson-based Substack All My Dead and Living Things, offers an hour to begin to change that. Just as her writing treats Hudson's civic story – its changes, losses, and history – as sacred and worthy of witness, this workshop invites you to treat your own the same way.

Through guided journaling prompts, small breakout groups, and a closing ritual, you'll have a chance to name what you've been holding and be met by others who are somewhere in their own in-between. When you hear someone else speak honestly from inside their own transition, it reorganizes what feels allowed for you. You start to recognize your own experience in theirs. You borrow language you didn't have before. You feel less alone, less strange. There's liberation in that for you – and for everyone in the room who gets permission to be fully, unguardedly themselves. 

Bring a journal and something to write with (though a few will be provided if you forget). You don't have to share to belong in this space; you're welcome to simply witness if that feels right.