Spring Hellos + Gift
Spring hellos!
Last weekend my 8-year old and I went to a gift culture camp. Tucked in the fertile heart of the Finger Lakes of western New York, we gathered at Fruition Seeds Farm for a bulk seed gifting in support of community gardens and seed libraries, shared delicious, nourishing food and stories with one another, and inspired each other to remember the generations before (and to come) that have grown, survived…and thrived from listening to and tending the land together. The seeds a reminder of our power, our fertileness, our promise to the future. Today I write to share a GIFT with you and plant some seeds for how we might support one another and grow together in our practice of trust, gratitude, and strength.
As we know, Indigenous communities have practiced trusting that the land and its people hold more importance than those of the individual for generations and generations. Relationships and reciprocity the core values. Shared well-being over individual profit. Love as care for the collective. Wealth as having enough to share. Knowing that we are and will have enough.
Growing up on a working farm in rural Texas and living in rural communities in the Midwest and on the Island of Maui, I experienced these gifts, this mutuality…most during times of crisis. Responding when neighbors had a fire, supporting one another after an accident or family loss, or sharing the bounty of a good crop, especially when someone else didn’t experience the same luck. I wonder how we might grow and practice these values on the daily so we can continue to weather the storms to come?
What gifts we might freely share with one another?
What might happen if we let one another know our needs?
What if we trust that we have enough?
What might we re-member about where we came from?
MY GIFT TO YOU
I have a gift. It comes easily to me. Strangers notice it.
It draws people to me and opens them up to share.
It is a presence. A deep knowing. A confidence in them; in us.
A place to be witnessed. To be listened to. To be held in our shared humanity.
A mirror to know we are not alone.
I have been holding space for leaders, organizers, and community care workers of all ages for over 25 years. Holding precious visions. Sharing vulnerable truths. Dreaming and planning. Growing giving to ourselves so we can give more freely and justly to others.
My gift to YOU is a free monthly online gathering.
A circle to nurture growth, grapplings, and imagine possibilities together.
A place to meet you where you are and practice collective care and dreaming.
3rd Thursday of each month–2-3P EST/11A-Noon PT/8-9A Hawai’i time
Register for FREE to receive the Zoom link and reminders here: bit.ly/4ejQ41k
I hope you will join as we work to get more free–together.
If there is someone you would like to invite; I trust your intuition. Please share this invitation with them.
May we practice receiving as much as we give and trust that we are enough and worthy of love and care.
With gratitude and love,
Andrea
