01/04/2025
2024 was an enormously challenging year for me, one that stretched and pushed me in ways I didn’t think were possible. This year, I’m focusing on simplicity. Mending and making, giving gifts and learning how to receive them too. Learning new skills. Most importantly, community.
In my new book, I talk about the value of community along the foragers way. How we must show up for each other, and perhaps the greater challenge, allow others to show up for us. Self-sufficiency is the biggest lie we tell ourselves. We can’t do it alone, and we were never meant to. The give and take of relationship is almost never one for one. Sometimes we need more, other times we have more to give. Those things don’t always line up. When my hands are full, I must share with my neighbor whose hands are empty. When my hands are empty, I must be willing to ask for something to fill them. When the tree has fruit, it gives it away. When it has none, we care for it anyway by pruning dead branches, hauling water to feed its roots, and cleaning up the area surrounding it.
I’m not someone who has an easy time being vulnerable. I struggle endlessly with an inclination to be self-sufficient, to always find enough to give away while asking for nothing, even when my well is dry. When I struggle in silence, I’m not only hurting myself; I’m hurting my community by depriving them of the opportunity to care for me.
It was very difficult for me to accept this exquisite work of art from as a gift. I tried to pay her, but she insisted it needed to be free, no strings attached, because she knew I was going through a challenging time and she wanted to send some joy my way. And now, every day when I drink coffee out of this beautiful mug and pour cream from its tiny matching pitcher plant creamer, I feel a weight lifted from my chest. Haley is part of my community now, and allowing her to care for me in this way has healed something in me.
I’m looking forward to caring for Haley in a non-monetary way as a way of thanking her for her kindness, and honestly, this is the energy I think we all need more of as we begin our 2025.
Make, mend, learn, gift, and show up for one another.