Podbit · The School of Greatness
Susan David's grief journal teacher wrote feedback in near-invisible pencil. When Susan tracked her down decades later and asked why, the teacher said: 'It was your story. I was just a witness.' That restraint — seeing without taking over — is the definition of genuine emotional support.
Where this was said
At 26:00 · chapter starts 25:40
Decades after those grief journals, Susan David attended a conference where the speaker encouraged the audience to reach out to anyone who had shaped them. She tracked down her teacher, sent flowers, and asked the question that had lingered: why the barely-visible pencil? The teacher's reply is one of the episode's most affecting moments: 'It was your story. I was just witnessing.' The teacher had understood intuitively what emotional support actually requires — being present without taking over. This leads Susan David into her broader definition of emotional agility as 'seeing and unseeing': seeing yourself, seeing others, without the distortions of forced narratives or avoidance. [1] — Susan David "Susan David's grief journal teacher wrote feedback in near-invisible pencil. When Susan tracked her down decades later and asked why, the t…" 26:00
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