Dear Adana,
Who knew that work could feel like an extension of "home?" The kind of "home" that I miss when I step away for awhile...the type of home that is cozy, safe, and waiting for me with a cup of tea and a slice of freshly baked pie (banana cream pie, baked by you, of course)...the type of home that has only one expectation - that I show up just as I am. With every surprise gift, voice text, brilliant idea, aha, vent session, and meme you share, I feel wholly seen and known.
You are the type of friend | sister | partner who makes me want to be my best. Not just for me, but for you, as well, because you deserve the best. You are a sacred part of my motivation to make this place better, because you deserve it to be better. You deserve the best.
What I've learned with you is that partnering in our work doesn't just "double the fun." it weaves together two constellations of lineages: generations of wisdom, influence, and love. And each of our own constellations are connected to countless others. This has not only expanded my learning, but also my joy. I am just the luckiest to get to be tethered to All the Things and histories and stories and experiences and people who shape(d) who you are.
Love you kindredly,
Jess
Anywhere there's Peace
I feel most at home
When I am beside you.
I am able to breathe freely & abundantly.
You speak kindly to my soul,
& nurture the points of direction
Which I grow.
My sanctuary of peace,
My birds eye view of serenity.
I feel most at home
When I am in view of your garden.
Offering the utmost
Of warmth & affection.
Make no mistake,
I am not there to simply pass time
Nor am I there out of the convenience
Of you.
Being around you takes me
to another world
& I am glad to share in the experience
Of you.
I am in awe at how you transform me
Into a moth, in terms of light.
I’ll follow you anywhere
“The longer I live, the more deeply I learn that love — whether we call it friendship or family or romance — is the work of mirroring and magnifying each other’s light.” — James Baldwin
Dear Jess,
When I think about our partnership, I keep thinking about the word ‘enough’. Mostly I think about the freedom - the liberation - that ‘enough’ makes possible. When we’re loved enough, supported enough, challenged enough, our sense of possibility is boundless, free…liberated.
Something I love about the way you show up in our work is your ‘enoughness’. You embody this incredible balance of accepting people completely as they are - seeing them as enough - and also loving them enough to coach, challenge, and guide into their next evolution. And I think it starts with you. You accept yourself completely as you are and love yourself enough to grow and grapple and evolve. You love enough to critique. You love enough to question. You love enough to see the tree, when only the seed is in front of you. Your love is a verb. And in modeling loving yourself this way, you give others permission to think about how they are loving themselves.
If I had to choose just one super power of yours to celebrate in this season of love (and choosing just one is torture!) it would be your vision. It would be how you see the truth of what is, the promise of what can be, and loving craft the questions that will help light the path between them. It would be how you see another’s light, you see their enoughness, and you lovingly guide them to seeing it, too, in service of liberation. What a gift.
We always say the inside needs to match the outside. We need to show up in our organizations the same way we hope to show up in community. With you, that’s easy and ease-full. I remember the first time we talked about the idea of ‘work that loves you back’. It felt cheeky and subversive and aspirational. But with you, through my work in partnership with you, I’ve experienced how transformative it is to love and be loved in your work. It’s a joy to be Kindred with you.
Love,
Adana
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