I believe that we are at our best as a people when we can:
Live our natural lives
Manifest our visions and cultivate our gifts
Bring these together with others toward common purpose
Restore communion with ourselves, each other, and the natural world.
So. What do each of those pieces mean? How do these ingredients add to the potion?
Live our natural lives: Originally I had thought of this as “authentic self”, but I am challenged with the idea of self, and there is something so beautiful and easeful about being natural. None of us needs to feel bad for who we are, the thoughts and feelings that come naturally to us, nor the inclinations and callings that we feel. These are all our unique lens and approach to the world around us. The more that we can get to our inner calling and trust those still, small voices within us, the more that we can know how our uniqueness may fit into the world around us.
Manifest our visions and cultivate our gifts: As we get closer to that voice and the natural expression of who we are, we begin to find gifts that we have to offer and visions that we are drawn to manifest. These are our contributions to the world around us. Those things that come more easily to us and those challenges that excite and entice us are where we lean into as we find companions and partners who complement those. This requires focus and diligence as well as honor and support for ourselves and each other to bring our contributions forward.
Bring these together with others toward common purpose: If I live my natural life, cultivate my gifts, and manifest my visions, I can bring these to the public square. I need to learn how to co-create with others, honoring and supporting their contributions, finding common goals, and coalescing these to make up the worlds we envision. I envision a world that is just, equitable, diverse, and inclusive filled with love, creativity, joy, and honesty. What do you envision? How can we bring these visions together toward common purpose? That is our question to answer together when we enter the public square.
Restore communion with ourselves, each other, and the natural world: I came to this late in the journey. I described this early on as what we must do as we liberate, manifest, cultivate, and co-create. We will get knocked down and have to get back up again. We will step on each other and need to restore relationship. I have now come to understand that this restoration and healing is the pathway toward everything else. Our world beats us down, and I believe this is the path that leads us back:
Our calling is to:
1. Bring our most broken and pushed aside parts to the center
2. Know those stories and what they show us
3. Share these stories in ways that transform how we live
4. Do something to realign ourselves so that we may all be able to:
Live our natural lives
Cultivate our gifts and manifest our visions
Bring these together with others toward common purpose
So, I am launching a potion show to try out this idea. My first workshop, Potions for Humanity, is tomorrow, in Creston at Create Creston. I’m curious what we will discover.