The past is imbedded in us. It can inform us, empower us, and also shackle us, preventing us from loving and growing more fully into the life we want. I see how old hurts and resentment have haunted me and other people, how we each try to reckon with them. I see how they have grown to create walls of bitterness that isolate us from possibility, from connection.

Reconciliation is born out of a desire to create spaces for healing. I invited people I know to think of a conflict that has haunted them and to write a letter to that “ghost,” asking for forgiveness or granting forgiveness. The letter could be to a person, living or dead. It could be to their younger selves, a part of themselves. It could be to a group of people. With their permission, I have incorporated copies of their letters into Reconciliation, bringing air and light to sorrow so that we may loosen their hold on us, so that we may take steps towards love and freedom.