Thank you, Nani Nehring-Bliss, for this exquisite continuous line drawing, gorgeously expressing the non-linear and interconnected nature of gifts, community and Fruition’s joyful, trusting commitment to gifts unfolding, surrounding us all with what we need:
Trusting Our Gifts, Our Gifts Return
with seven haikus
oh and: these words circle Nani’s line drawing above, it’s worth slowing down to see 💛
I
fruition grows seed
luscious august tomatoes
a gift for sophie
II
snows melt, seeds sown
sophie shows john, seedlings sprout
friends grow fine gardens
III
john suddenly knows
why his ancestors gardened
who else may be nourished?
IV
john’s tomatoes find
community kitchens thrive
let’s make sauce for all
V
are you, too, empty?
not for long on this green earth
hearts like jars now full
VI
gifts: continuous
what is need but the fear of need?
seeds, fruit, jars, friends
VII
we trust moving gifts
abundance is sweeter shared
trust the gift returns
On Needing & Thanking Each Other
Do you understand that your quality of life and your survival are tied to how authentic and generous the connections are between you and the people and place you live with and in?
adrienne maree brown, Emergent Strategy
Friends, we need each other.
And, more than ever:
We need YOU!
As we step into sharing rather than selling seeds, learning to uncouple our needs with our ‘perceived market value,’ we are committed to sharing our needs in clear, honest, creative and widely accessible ways.
And Friends, we need you to both receive seeds as well as support our continued seed sharing in any way(s) feel generative and joyful for you, if and only as you are called.
We will do everything we can to be in service of seeds and sharing. We know we cannot do this alone and we’re honored to share concrete ways you can make this possible, both directly and indirectly, immediately and across time. What do we need? Take a peek here 💛
So Many Ways to Say Thank You
As we all learn how to give and receive seeds rather than sell them, let us affirm: As you receive these seeds, all we ask is that you receive them trusting that you are worthy, no matter what you’ve done or haven’t done, no matter what you’ll do or won’t do.
Trust that by simply receiving these seeds, you are amplifying the gift of life, their 400 million year old legacy.
As we unlearn scarcity and sow new futures together:
We trust you profoundly to practice giving and receiving gifts in ways that transform us all, in ways large and small.
We vision a world where we all are ‘sustained’ rather than ‘paid’…
…and here is another brilliant offering of Nani’s to help us give and receive more joyfully and generatively:
We are the Seeds: When Seeds are Gifts, how can we receive them?
How might we say thank you?
not in any order of worthiness:
~ pay it forward
~ pay it back
~ share a verbal or written ‘thank you’
~ share time & care & presence & labor
~ share a material gift
~ sow seeds & sing songs!
~ share your gifts & abundance, gardens & beyond, with neighbors & strangers
~ when receiving a gift, let’s practice feeling gratitude & joy & trusting that our worthiness in receiving is not predicated in our giving
~ what feels generous without making you feel overstretched or resentful?
~ learn to save & share seeds
~ seek out & support local organizations & events sparking the culture you crave
~ trust that by simply receiving these seeds you are amplifying the gift
Friends, thank you again for reading, for feeling, for being!
And for being part of our lives unfurling, learning to trust the unknown as we cultivate cultures of caring together.
Sow Seeds & Sing Songs,
& the Many Possibilities of Fruition
ps
And if you’re wondering how to sustain our work beyond the next breath you’ll take, hop over here & trust you are always doing enough 💛
