This is part 7 of a special series focusing on the community of Honoring Our Experience, and their work with long-term survivors of the HIV/AIDS virus.

“I am an educator, listener, advocate, supporter and challenger,” reads Greg Casillas from his version of the George Ella Lyon poem, I Am From. “I am from the belief that it’s  never as bad as it is good. I am from a brother that said the only thing that we are given is a chance.” 

Greg Casillas knows the power of story. The gift of showing up and listening. Of bearing witness to someone else’s journey. 

In April, Honoring Our Experience held it’s biannual retreat.  Tucked away in the California hills, long term survivors of HIV/AIDS. gathered with the newly diagnosed and those who support them, for a weekend to remember. A time to share their stories. To  be grateful. To hold each other close. And to heal.

It was on that weekend that Greg Casillas came to terms with pain he’d been carrying for far too long. Pain he barely acknowledged was still there. But that’s what happens when you bear witness. When you show up for yourself and others. Slowing down allows you to look inside —and come to terms with moments sometimes long forgotten. 

Pain shared is pain divided. That’s the healing power of story.

Greg Casillas is a healer. The Strategic Program Director at CRRC (Community Resource and Recreation Center) in Canyon Lake, TX, he provides program development, dissemination, coordination and policy & procedure structure to 4 different programs housed at CRRC.

As you listen to this episode, consider:

• Think about someone in your community who needs support. What is one thing you can do to to lessen their load?
• Consider writing your own “I Am From” poem. What are the experiences of your own life that make you who you are?
• It’s easy to look outward, seeing the work others need to do. How can we use those opportunities to look inward and challenge ourselves to grow?

Do you know someone who has a story to tell? Someone who is giving back to their community? Working to make our world a better place? Send an email to [email protected]. Nominate them for a future episode of From Sparks to Light.

To learn more about Robert Maggio, the composer of "Where Love is Love," our theme music, please check out his website.

To learn more about Suzanne, visit her website.

To learn more about the inspiration for this podcast, please check out Suzanne's memoir, Estrellas - Moments of Illumination Along El Camino de Santiago

Follow Suzanne on Social Media

• Instagram @suzannemaggio_author
• Facebook @ Suzanne Maggio author
• Threads @suzannemaggio_author