Beloved friends,
Love has been the center of my spiritual practice for a long, long time, so I find myself astonished by the blossom afoot within me as my Lovingkindness course enters its final week. There was this breakthough morning: I was feeling a little pressed for time. But as I began my morning round of tending to home, I realized that all that had a moment before felt burdensome was an act of love, and the world began to sing with that awareness. As I filled the nut and seed feeders for the birds I realized: this is lovingkindness. As I walked outside to hang them and saw the fresh green shoots rising from earth and from branches, I wondered: what if I think of that rising green as love? What if it IS? The green creatures surely adore the springtime; how good must it to flower and leaf after winter? Bringing the hummingbirds' nectar feeders in, scrubbing the shit and bugs off them, filling and returning them to their hooks: this, too, is love. Putting away the rest of the groceries I was too tired to finish the night before: also love. The food on the table ready to share with friends at the weekend: love. Love, love, love. Suddenly I was able to float through the fullness without feeling harried, just awash in love. Ahhhhh.
I'm happy to be sharing that blossom; today someone from the course reached out to share a transformative experience of her own with our practice, ending with with kind words, "It was such medicine and such magic. Thank you my dear Dahlia for this life changing work." Thanks to Sarah for letting me share her words.
I look forward to sharing details of the next iteration of the lovingkindness work with you soon.
Resources
Wishes on a String
It's dandelion season here on the Olympic Peninsula; riotous bloom is afoot! My mama kindly reminded me that last year when I saw the beautiful dandelion garlands she had made, I was sad that it was too late to make my own. I'm excited to do so and passing the invitation on to you! It's a simple and beautiful craft. Here are instructions in a blog post and brief video formats. Thanks to Sheri.
Fruition of Giving
One of my recent tithes (which means that the giving was from you, too, if you have paid me!) was to a GoFundMe where a friend was trying to help her Arabic teacher and her family flee from Gaza. Here is Simon's update:
After a few weeks of waiting, Heba and her family began their long journey to Egypt on Monday morning. Finally reaching their new apartment in Cairo Tuesday evening.
I started this campaign when Heba asked me to. She and her family, after months of living through terror and displacement, injury and hunger, decided to try to leave. At the beginning, I wasn't sure I could raise this much money and had no idea how to help get them out. Then, slowly, our campaign picked up speed and more and more of Heba's friends and students reached out to me asking how they could help. We started a WhatsApp group and shared ideas, strategies, frustration and hope.
I am so grateful to all of you for donating and sharing and reaching out to help. I still can't quite believe we did it! The money we raised paid for the evacuation of Heba, her husband and their five children as well as rent and living expenses for a few months in Cairo while they take a breath and get settled.
Thank you and let's keep on fighting, keep talking about the genocide in Gaza, keep taking care of each other,
Much love,
Simon
Generational Change in the Workplace
For several generations parents have striven to raise children more gently than they were raised themselves. How fascinating it is as each generation of these people enter the workforce – the very ways that we have worked so hard to instill in our children often cause frustration when those children come to the workforce! I love this WaPo article offering clear descriptions of and explanations for the way that Gen Z prefers to communicate in the workplace. Sounds like it may lead to more humane working conditions for everyone; may it be so.
"Gen Zers who spoke to The Washington Post said they view work differently from other generations who sacrificed their time, well-being and family lives for jobs that often didn’t value them as people. Instead, they want to be themselves at work, feel that their voice matters, and that their managers are empathetic and will invest in relationships with them. They also value context on why things should be done certain ways."
Holy Days
Chag Pesach Sameach, Happy Passover, to all who are honoring those holy days this week. As I reached out this week to my Jewish friends to offer these simple words, someone gifted me a story from Arielle Angel of "a tear in the fabric of time, of pure potential" described by Rabbi Lara Haft Yom-Tov. May we all know safety, freedom, and belonging. Thanks to Dan.
Everyone is Someone
Last week nearly 40 researchers signed the New York Declaration of Animal Consciousness, which aims to change the moral framework that humans use for relating to the more-than-human life of the earth by helping us to understand what we have known since forever and somehow lost sight of for a time: that of course humans are not alone in having sentience and inner lives. May this remembering spread, and spread, and encourage us toward the dramatic changes needed to protect us all.
The Honorable Harvest
In the Reading Circle this week we finished "The Honorable Harvest". Next week we will begin "In the Footsteps of Nanobozho: Becoming Indigenous to Place". I warmly encourage you to join us in this powerful sharing. The book is a collection of essays; you won't feel lost if you dive in now. We've got half the book remaining and oh, what treasure. This week included Robin's story of a young woman who come to her after a talk and said:
You sound like my grandmother, back in my village in Turkey. I will tell her she must have a sister here in the United States. The Honorable Harvest is her way, too. In her house, we learned that everything we put in our mouths, everything that allows us to live, is the gift of another lide. I remember lying with her at night as she made us thank the rafters of her house and the wool blankets we slept in. My grandmother wouldn't let us forget that these are all gifts, which is why you take care of everything, to show respect for that life. In my grandmother's house we were taught to kiss the rice. If a single grain fell to the ground, we learned to pick it up and kiss it, to show we meant no disrespect in wasting it.