Last night’s family Christmas gathering unfolded as a clear illustration of simultaneous contraction and expansion within the same relational field.

I arrived in a highly open and sensitive state after several hours of walking in extreme cold, listening to a long Ram Dass satsang, followed by Bach. My system was expanded and permeable.

During the evening, several moments highlighted a contrast of frequencies. A conversation about my three year old niece, who speaks with striking clarity and maturity, triggered curiosity and resonance in some, while subtly activating resistance in my mother. Her reactions suggested a need to maintain familiar structures and emotional safety when the field became too wide.

A similar pattern appeared later. Before dinner, my mother categorically refused the idea of inviting my sister, whom she had not seen for nearly ten years. An hour later, my sister called and announced she was coming anyway. This unexpected reversal intensified my mother’s defensiveness, while for me it symbolized the closing of a long cycle and the natural movement of life reasserting itself beyond personal control.

When my sister arrived, accompanied by a Haitian professor in data analytics at Harvard, the field shifted again. The conversation expanded naturally toward cosmology, humanity, and consciousness. He received my reflections openly and named a role that, in his culture, corresponds to people seen as “Divino”. His recognition contrasted sharply with the resistance present elsewhere in the room.

The key observation is the coexistence of these two movements. The same presence generated contraction and expansion at the same time, within the same space. The difference did not lie in the content of what was shared, but in the capacity of each system to receive it.

This experience clarified that family systems tend to react from history, identity, and control, while external encounters often meet presence without that weight. No resolution was required. The situation revealed a mechanical dynamic rather than a personal issue.

The essential point is to remain a witness to these movements, without trying to reconcile them, explain them, or turn them into a mission.