Rooting Ourselves

Rooting Ourselves

The last two weeks have been a swirl of feelings and reactions. We are gutted by the results of the 2024 Election, but we're also proud of the movement-building work of our friends here in North Carolina and in other communities across the country. We're metabolizing our anger and grief and pondering our purpose and commitment for the next four years. Though we haven’t yet landed with clarity, we thought we'd share what's rooting our thinking. Some of our guideposts will sound familiar as they are our consistent refrains, but some may be new. Hopefully, at least a couple will be useful to you as you engage in your own thinking about the next four years.

Hold to Purpose

Though there’s new work to be done, the work of most nonprofits is even more relevant and necessary. Amid the coming chaos, nonprofit leaders must be both disciplined and creative as they hold to mission. We will continue to support leaders as they reflect, adapt, and take bold action. We also encourage nonprofits to embrace their role as key elements of civic infrastructure.

Attend to Attention

We believe that what you give attention to grows. Meredith knows this as a gardener and we've both seen it as long-time meeting facilitators and practitioners of appreciative inquiry. Authoritarians thrive on attention and do all that they can to claim it. To stop their power from growing, we commit to directing our attention to those who are casting a future of equitably shared resilience and prosperity. We will continue to listen attentively to the perspectives and ideas of Black and Brown leaders.

Share the Work

While we don’t want to give our attention to the authoritarians and their billionaire supporters, we do need to keep watch on their shenanigans and the potential implications. We commit to supporting national and local media, a free and fair justice system, and watchdog organizations. We will integrate their learning into our own actions. We will also remind our clients to focus on what they do best and to lean on others to fulfill their strengths. There is more than enough work to go around and none of us has the capacity to do it all with the necessary depth and voracity.

Learn from Others

Ours is not the only country experiencing an authoritarian threat. Nor is this the only time that there have been authoritarian acts in the United States: ask any Southerner who lived through the days of Jim Crow or read about the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. We can learn more about what might come, and we can draw ideas and encouragement from the multitudes of stories of resistance and resilience. We commit to sharing historical references and making international connections.

Cultivate Wonder and Joy

Joy and wonder are our source of meaning and spirit. Coupled with love and kindness, they are the glue that keeps people connected to one another and encourages us to work hard on each other’s behalf. We commit to our own personal practices that help us notice wonder and joy in community and in nature. We commit to reminding others of the importance of wonder and joy. We will also continue our commitment to making meetings and conversations joyful – or at least fun and playful places of connection.

We're sure that we need to expand our thinking and perspective as we move into the next four years and we look forward to learning from you. We know that though there will be hard work, pain, and loss, connection and community is the best antidote. Thank you for being a part of our circle.

Onward!

- Meredith & Heather