Monthly Libation – November 2024
Colemon & Associates (C&A) is excited to begin a new ritual that we are calling The Monthly Libation to fellow practitioners, supports, and community at large. You may know that a libation is a pouring of a liquid as an offering. Our intention is to offer reflections, inspiration, and resources to feed and nourish our work and practices from three primary perspectives:
1. What We Are Feeling (Heart)
2. What We Are Thinking (Head)
3. What We Are Practicing (Loving and Intentional Action)
We considered waiting until next month to launch, given that we are fresh off the election results and the far reaching implications of those results. But we decided to stay the course, to reach out rather than isolate. While it’s important to give ourselves the opportunity feel, we also recognize how critical community and relationships are right now. We hope the reflections below offer you resources and reflections that are beneficial during this historic time.
What We Are Feeling (Heart)
Just one day, post-election, we are feeling the weight of uncertainty, the grief and devastation of genocide and oppression across our globe. We are afraid and still hopeful. We are angry and frustrated and yet, we feel are steadfast in our resolve to ground, to remember, and to press on. If what we focus on expands, we feel a deep resolve to water seeds of possibility, to conjure the fierce knowings of our ancestors who for decades and decades, believed in and helped build a world that did not yet exist.
We find ourselves here in the unknown, still and again. And again. And again.
We feel responsibility and resolve to stay the course. We feel such duality, we are torn and swinging from one emotion to the next. This article by Vilissa Thompson urges us to cling to hope as we anxiously await the results of this election.
Can you relate? How are you holding the paradox of emotions?
What We Are Thinking/Reading (Head)
There’s the saying that “feelings aren’t facts.” However, these times are not that simple. Feelings of grief, dread, anger, and overwhelm are grounded in real day-to-day challenges for leaders and organizations. The political and funding landscapes are dwindling, unpredictable, and inadequate. Our community’s most vulnerable are not receiving the levels of support needed to meet basic needs. Power and resources remain in the hands of gatekeepers who do not find value in in the very individuals who built and sustain our economy. Our youth and emerging leaders are disillusioned, often erased, and unable to seek support from those charged with their care. We are thinking, “What now?”And yet, much is not new or unfamiliar. Perhaps that is the hardest pill to swallow. This post from Black Liturgies resonated with us deeply:
“But we remain.” We are thinking, what does it mean to remain, to persist, to continue? We are thinking and reading about the ways that we can build solidarity across people groups and sectors. We are imagining and dreaming our way through. This is one of many inspiring posts from Black Emotional and Mental Health Collective (BEAM) about holding the duality of grief and discouragement with the belief in our power to heal.
What thoughts are you contending with right now? Which can be leveraged toward your resilience? Which can you acknowledge and release?
What We Are Practicing (Loving and Intentional Action)
We are caring for our nervous systems through daily meditation, movement, and somatic practices. Not only does this help us stay engaged in our work, it is how we resist harmful defaults of leadership that ignore our humanity and discourage the truth and wisdom located in our bodies and emotions.
We are inspired by this post from Alison Lin at Change Elemental. We are pausing to acknowledge the truth of our feelings, the intensity of our grief and disappointment. AND we are working to not make assumptions about how our colleagues or client partners are impacted by the election results.
We are taking lessons or examples from nature to nourish our consciousness by:
· Taking walks
· Getting daylight or sunlight, sitting near a window
· Taking 5 deep breaths of fresh air to ground and reset
We are creating and maintaining lists of things that bring us joy and draw from them when needed (music, images/art, short videos/speeches)
With our client partners and coaches, we are offering resources to establish protocols and support for folks that may need flexible work schedules, accommodations, or mental health days. Yes, work must get done but not at the cost of our health.
How are your practicing support for yourselves, your organizations, and your community in the wake of uncertainty and undefined changes on the horizon?
We hope you enjoyed this first offering. Please share with those in your network who might enjoy it. Please follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn to stay informed of our upcoming work and the Monthly Libation. If you are looking for organizational development consultation, support, or coaching, you can email us at info@colemonassociates.org.
Stay safe. Take care of yourselves. Take care of each other.
In Solidarity,
Pat, Annie and Kellie
C&A Team
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