HATCH Podcast Series – Episode 27: The Freedom of Forgiveness

It’s not hard to be inspired by Candice Mama, even her voice burbles forth with the twinkling lyricism of joy. And that joy, that effervescence of self, has been hard won in a story capable of breaking even the soundest of hearts: the violent loss of her father at the hands of “the most evil man in the world.” If she can find a way to engage the world with hope — to literally walk herself out of consuming depression to forgive the man that murdered her father and champion his release from prisons both outward and in — then what, really, are the barriers for so many of us that cling to resentment, anger, and pasts that simply don’t serve? What are the real barriers to reconciliation?

The answer seems unfortunately simple: there are none. Mama found healing by working to truly understand Eugene de Kock’s story and its impact on her own, finding compassion for both therein. She allowed herself to embrace the weightlessness of forgiveness, the expansiveness of an open heart. To hang on to trauma, to eternally relive the painful wounds of harms wielded against us — of tragic circumstances that befall us — is to be defined by them. They become our identity. And the choice of that identity rests solely with us. Whether we employ Mama’s techniques — mantra, manifestation, research, reconciliation — or we develop our own, the key, as with nearly all else in life, is as much about letting in as it is about letting go.

Photos by: Yarrow Kraner & Eskil Bjerkestrand

Copy by: Evil Red Pen

Artwork: MidJourney