Thank you to everyone for all the bday love, I am feeling the energy of a new year and hope it’s a time of spring creativity & life for you too! A few updates in this email: Zoom yoga continues, fundraiser success, gardening & planting, and moving from Solitary to Solidarity
Also, thanks for all who Zoom Yoga last week or contributed to the solidarity with undocumented farmworkers fund! I received $300 in Venmo donations for the UnDocufund of Sonoma, CA and Student Action with Farmworkers. My heart is so full of gratitude for the people growing our food!
I will be offering Zoom Yoga this week as well!
Wednesday & Saturday at 12 PM EST: https://zoom.us/j/922397417?pwd=RW5DZlRjSWFMTDczRVFyS09SRkFYdz09
I am particularly inspired by the ways people get creative in times of crisis. Many of the most resilient and resourceful people I know are those who aren’t necessarily monetarily rich, but have a rich connection to the Earth, growing food, and their communities. Often crisis shows us how we can be more intentional and better caretakers with what we have available.
Here at the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, we have shifted in this time of change to Drive-Thru plant sales! It harkens to my days of lemonade sales, Hunger Lunches, and CKesadilla nights ( my deepest gratitude to everyone I coerced to make, sell or buy $2 quesadillas at 2 AM). I am feeling so inspired by the number of people buying plant starts, particularly of food and medicinal crops, from us. This is part of the world I am imagining! One where people can affordably and easily buy onions, lettuce and tomato plants rather than cheap burgers!
Take some time this week to plant something! Check out our nursery page for inspiration: oaec.org/plant-nursery & my mom's cute garden below!
How can we move from solitary to solidarity?
As I think many of us are realizing, humans are not intended to exist in isolation. We all depend upon one another for joy, laughter, encouragement, food, healthcare, prayer, child care, and the list goes on and on!
Our system is generally one of independence, promoting that people can “make it on their own”. We applaud those who seem to have it all figured out, who can care for themselves. The reality is, however, that this illusion of separateness is not only false, but makes us feel vulnerable, isolated, and scared.
We need one another! We need the Earth, we need our bodies, we need collective care and collective action. Our deepest joy comes from playing a role in the interconnected weave of life.
I encourage you this week to seek ways to be in solidarity with others, even if from 6 feet or more away:
support the Earth by planting food crops or pollinator flowers
Support your friends by writing letters or calling
Google your favorite organizations and read what they need right now, and how you can contribute your time and resources
Plan something fun for the people you’re stuck with :) : a fancy dinner, a spa night
Support inspirational artists, musicians, and authors by buying their work
Finally, I HIGHLY recommend this podcast from For the Wild with extraordinary doctor, musician and social justice warrior, Rupa Marya who talks about healing, community medicine, and the way forward in these confusing times.
