HOMEcoming’s Mini Radical Sabbatical: Decolonize, Dismantle, Dive Deep

On Accountability and Community Care

Soooooo, most of you don’t know this but, I was supposed to share with you all on Wednesday. A commitment I have made to Self and to the Universe. Given the state of my bodies, my world, our world, that didn’t happen. It couldn’t happen. I thought about giving it another go yesterday and tried to rally in the morning and then again in the evening and still couldn’t. Old me would have dug deep from the depths of somewhere to follow through on something I committed to, but new me who is committed to actively tending to Self, would not do it. What I did do was give myself permission to rest, to nourish my bodies and rest some more.

I found myself asking, “how could I possibly talk about accountability and community care if I am not willing, at this most crucial time, to practice it?” So here I am folks, telling on myself, and feeling some relief from my self-imposed pressure by doing so.

Today I am able to share with you a bit because for the past few days I have been able to tend to Self with the support of beloved community. Tending to Self looked like: genuinely feeling my feelings in the moment in the way of unexplained tears/sobbing; noticing my irritation which is my way of subtly engaging my anger; honestly sharing how I am feeling when directly asked; sleeping whenever possible; minimal stimuli; and not performing for others. Tending to Self ensures that I am resourced, that I am not feeling hungry, angry, lonely, or tired (HALT) before offering care to others, which helps minimize my potential to cause harm to Self and/or to others. Despite my best intentions, if I am lacking in any of these areas, chances are greater that I am likely going to experience frustration, irritability, hyper-sensitivity, and maybe even resentment, which will most likely negatively impact the person(s) I am trying to care for. Definitely never ever my intention.

As this week comes to a close, and you sit with the unfolding of our current reality, before you offer up any care to anyone, ask yourself, “how am I feeling?” “Where am I feeling it?” Offer yourself some care first, put on your own mask, assess your capacity –what are you able to do? How much? For how long? Give yourself permission to be there for you first before others.  

Please stay tuned for more on accountability cuz this is all I have capacity for at the moment…

If this conversation resonates with you and you’re in the Louisville area and feel called to share in space and conversation, please join us at HOMEcoming’s Mini Radical Sabbatical: Decolonize, Dismantle, Dive Deep on Sunday November 10th for some tending to Self in community. We will be focusing on Accountability and Community Care.

I’m looking forward to facilitating thoughtful, strengths-based, spiritually embodied discussion and practices about these questions together. What you discover may have the potential to transmute what no longer serves you, which may in turn prepare you to decolonize, dismantle, and dive deep into our collective potential for healing and liberation. A tall order? Yes, if we are alone. But together we can make lighter this needed work.

My offering to you in our Radical Sabbatical:

· Co-created, sacred space with nourishing snacks and hot tea

· Engaging conversation about the systemic issues we all face together/individually

· Embodied practices you can take with you to ground your daily life

This is the last session of this weekly fall series. Please do check here for postings on future dates this winter. And if you’d like to have a HOMEcoming Radical Sabbatical experience for your private group or team, I am accepting bookings through 2025.

Mad love and care,

Arlene

P.S.

I welcome you to contemplate and be in conversation with community, reflecting on the questions above in the comments. I’m interested in hearing from you.