This month feels like the culmination of the birthing process. Not the birth of a child, but the birth of a dream. Laurie and I began with a seed of a vision and we dreamed together and apart. We collaborated, researched, studied and committed ourselves to pray and open ourselves up to God’s calling for the next step of our journey. The product of all this dreaming and hard work is coming to life this month as we launch SOW that… into the world in faith, hope, and love. We believe the world needs communities of care and SOW that is our attempt to be the change we hope to see in the world. So as we nurture and care for this tiny dream and help it grow and flourish into the fullness of our calling, we invite you to do the same. Open your beautiful heart, acknowledge your truth and your deepest desire, and step out in faith! If you feel stuck and don’t know which way to step, we can help. Please sign up today for a free 30-minute consultation.
When we birth our dreams it is important that we have the safety of an authentic community. I have made the mistake of over sharing in a way that was not honoring to my story. One night, after playing Bunco and having too many drinks, when everyone was preparing to leave, a random guest, who was subbing for one of the regulars asked about our stories of birthing our babies. It was so inappropriate given the time of night and the lack of prior relationship, but because of the cocktails, we went there. We continued to talk for another hour, sharing way too many details of one of the most vulnerable pieces of our stories. I wish that I could say it was holy, but it wasn’t. It was just wrong.
We all desire intimacy at the core of our beings. It is who we are. To be human is to connect. In the African culture, there is a word Ubuntu which means me-we, or “I am what I am because of who we all are”. Individuals are inextricably bound to the whole of humanity whether they acknowledge it or not. When you pull on a thread of my story, it somehow impacts the larger tapestry. Held within this desire is a dilemma. People crave the depths, but they often can’t handle them, so they choose to swim numbingly across the surface in disappointed wonder. Why am I not more fulfilled? There must be something more!
I believe the solution to our cultural epidemic of disconnection is community. Not just any community, but real and authentic community where you can take off your masks and stop pretending. To see and be seen, to know and be known is what we are made for, but unfortunately many of us bare wounds that have not been healed in relation to our ability to connect and trust another authentically. When you suffer harm, it is your natural reflex to fight, take flight, are freeze. The last thing you want to do in places of pain is to open your heart and feel deeply. To bring your tears and your precious heart’s desire to another is risky business. But it is critical if you would like the freedom and abundance of life that you were created for.
When you open up your story to an individual or group that hasn’t earned your trust or are not capable of being with you in the valley, you may suffer more harm than healing. For this reason, it is critical that you choose your community wisely and allow a facilitator to help guide you in listening and to put some basic parameters around the space. Listening is a fine art and needs to be treated with reverence. When you open up your story to another, it is like pulling back the curtain to reveal the inner sanctuary. It is holy ground. Take off your shoes, breathe deeply, bow reverently and open up your precious heart to receive the blessing.
I wonder what one step you could take today to move closer to the birth of your dream…
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a JOY.”
