Do Your Work, Offer Your Gifts
How can each of us invest who we truly are in service of caring for & supporting our community? Not who we think we should be, or what our sense of guilt, perfectionism, & obligation compels us to be. Rather deeply asking ourselves, what do I do, & how do I offer that in this moment?
For those of us who embody an ethos of community care, who feel in our bones a calling to care for one another, times like these deeply trigger our urgent sense of, ‘I’ve got to do something.’ And it can be very easy to get overwhelmed by the tremendous need, quickly leading to a despondent sense of, “I’m not doing enough.’
And precisely because the need in this moment is so tremendous (and will continue to scale), it has never been more wise to truly believe that it is going to take a diversity of tactics to “get us through”, whatever that looks like in this new world. It is so heartening to see folks learning new skills like cooking and gardening, and to see others so beautifully rising to the occasion and stepping into the roles of on the fly social worker or community organizer.
While some of us may feel called to step into new roles and practices, we won’t all be called to do something different than what we do in “normal” times. In fact, some of us will be called to double down on what it is that we do & what we offer, pivoting to find creative and accessible ways to offer our gifts in service to the collective.
During this unsettling time of indefinite uncertainty, I am feeling called to root deeply into doing my Work and offering my gifts. Truly, where does my gladness meet the world’s need? What is my Work, what are my gifts, what are my resources, and how do I share them and put them to use in service of the greatest good?
“When I give something I do not possess, I give a false and dangerous gift, a gift that looks like love but is, in reality, loveless — a gift given more from my need to prove myself than from the other’s need to be cared for….When the gift I give to the other is integral to my own nature, when it comes from a place of organic reality within me, it will renew itself — and me — even as I give it away. Only when I give something that does not grow within me do I deplete myself and harm the other as well, for only harm can come from a gift that is forced, inorganic, unreal.” — Parker Palmer
What do I do? I facilitate. I support groups and individuals to do their best thinking, create their work with ease and efficiency, navigate tension, and make collective decisions using clear communication and consent.
Right now so many of us are trying to make really hard choices at a time when we are low on certainty, structure, order, predictability, and high on heavy emotions like fear, frustration, anger, anxiety, panic, and desperation.
For the next two weeks (likely longer depending on need) I am offering free facilitation and coaching to any type of formation with limited resources, anywhere in the US (organization, business, family, community group, neighborhood association, etc).
This includes:
Group Facilitation
- Working one-on-one with a primary contact to understand context and design an agenda (this is also available as stand alone, one-on-one support — if you’re preparing to lead or facilitate an online gathering, I can help you prepare by thinking through design and methodology)
- Guiding a process rooted in consent and collaboration (could include decision making, brainstorming, strategizing, visioning, problem solving, conflict resolution, etc)
- Ensuring that next steps are clear and actionable: who is doing what, by when, and in accountability to whom
- Determining the logistics of the next meeting
- Removing the burden from a team member or leader doing the work of both facilitating and participating
- Providing online meeting technology and a tutorial for participants
One-On-One Support for Weight Carriers and Leaders
- What is urgent and what is important in this moment?
- How are you being called to serve and lead?
- How are you continuing to move important work forward and simultaneously adapting to uncertainty and emerging needs?
- What is your decision making framework?
- How are you inviting your whole self into your work and life in this moment?
- What are the conditions you’re creating for your team?
I offer myself as a resource to bring ease to your work during this trying time. Interested in working together? Email me at Rachael@ResistReimagine.com.
Originally published at https://www.resistreimagine.com on March 23, 2020.
