Thich Nhat Hanh said, “Time is life.” When we hastily navigate a transition, we deprive ourselves of fully experiencing life, including being fully present with one another and attuned to the communication of our own nervous system. From early childhood to higher education, we experience large and small scale transitions all the time. Imagine what it would be like to let go of the urge to get transitions over with. What if experiencing transitions together is healing? Maybe the point of the lunch-to-nap transition is not to get from lunch to nap, but rather to experience and embrace one another through the mess and to ride the wave with your people. What would it feel like to fully arrive (at school, to class, to a meeting)? As educators and organizational leaders, we have an opportunity to facilitate transitions that embrace our humanity. By saying yes to getting lost together – as children invite us to do- we can experience transition as a fertile time for acceptance, connecting to lineage, expressing disagreements and entering meaningful debate, the emergence of stories, innovation…and composting.
We know of an organization that spends a full day “composting” unresolved issues and getting clear on where the organization is at, the day before a new staff member joins their team. The new staff member is sent for a spa day while they do this! How’s that for a nourishing transition?
By the way, Tiny Humans, Big Emotions has a whole chapter on transitions – It’s out!
Here are the Sacred, Episode 5 Campfire Chat info & journal prompts:
Have a listen to Episode 5 at any of these locations: Youtube (this ep. will be uploaded here soon!), Apple, Spotify, Website
Want to excavate something you heard in Episode 4? We created some Episode 4 Journal Prompts for you. Contemplate the ones that call you:
- How are your ancestors with you in this moment?
- What is your relationship with yourself? How/does it project onto your relationships with others?
- When do you play the role of bridge building, connector? When do you play the role of disrupter?
- Are you serving your community? If not, which way are the resources flowing? If yes, what motivates you?
- What keeps you connected to your humanity throughout the day? Throughout the week? Throughout the years?
- How might you use Christian and Areli’s approach to advocacy as a mirror to better understand your own work?
We’ll host one Campfire Chat in December, at the end of season 1 to excavate anything that came up for you during episodes 4-7. For ongoing conversation join our Sacred Conversations Group on FB and/or follow us on Instagram.
We can’t wait to hear from you!
With love and gratitude,
Lauren & Angela Carolina
Compost, the noun: a mixture that consists largely of decayed organic matter and is used for fertilizing and conditioning land
Compost, the verb: to convert (a material, such as plant debris) to composthttps://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/compost