Beloved community,
Happy Winter Solstice! The longest night of the year, just before more Light again enters our lives.
There are many beautiful and heart-full missives arriving in my inbox as we prepare to bid adieu to 2020. While many speak of resilience, a common undercurrent I sense is tenderness. We are feeling tender. And weary. And brokenhearted.
I have begun calling this month “Tender December” because so many conversations turn to what has weighed most heavily upon our hearts in 2020.
We are also called to not forget the good of the past year – how democracy prevailed, how the phrase “Black Lives Matter” became central to our own sense of identity, urging those of us who have taken white privilege for granted to see and own the ways we have contributed by being on the “moving sidewalk”, further entrenching systemic racism. And to discern what we are willing to do differently, where we are willing to show up and be in the conversation, even if it means getting our nose bloodied. In many communities it is called Brave Space. I’ve noticed it is also tender space.
Equity and justice has lost crucial ground, the SDGs have lost key ground. So many NGOs have shuttered their doors or are in peril, putting their already vulnerable communities in greater peril.
The list goes on. I am too weary, too tender, to name all the world has endured. And too brokenhearted to name all that I have endured in my personal life this year, including feeling powerless to alleviate the suffering of those I love.
Breathe in. “Everything is going according to plan.” Breathe out.
In my daily spiritual practice, I seek to center myself on this thought. Everything is going according to plan. Trust. Surrender. Keep showing up in the work.
Because 2020 has also been a year of duality. We have been asked to simultaneously hold both the dark and the light. So much gold has emerged – the breaking apart of old entrenched patterns that do not serve us or humanity, and has made way for a new way of being, a new way forward that allows in so much more grace and understanding. And while we don’t always get “it” right, the tenderness has served to connect us more deeply to each other, our work, and our sacred roles in ushering in unprecedented levels of global solidarity. My belief is that this year has played a vital role in humanity ultimately taking a quantum leap forward.
Outside of being a mother, Black Fox Philanthropy is my primary vehicle for spiritual evolution and contribution. My practice is to keep showing up in the work, while supporting the team, many of whom are on their own journeys of loss, triumph, and feeling into the sacredness and the weight of our work with NGOs. The stakes are just so high.
As the demand for Black Fox Philanthropy services exploded at the outset of the pandemic, I had the great fortune of having already hired our COO Alexa Bach-McElrone. Soon thereafter, Anjali Balakrishna joined the leadership team. They put systems in place to handle the demand, releasing me from the day-today operations (not my ‘zone of genius’ to say the least). This ultimately enabled me to go on a semi-sabbatical for the last three months to build upon our August company leadership retreat, envisioning what the next level of impact is possible for the company and for the sector. For now I will simply say, “Watch this Space.”
All of this to say, Bring on 2021. But please, please go easier on all of us this year.
To help all of us glide into this new year with grace and renewal, I invite this beloved community of mission drivers to join the luminous Nina Urman and me for a free 75 minute workshop entitled “2020 – Power Pause: Reflection and Intention.” Together, we will complete this year feeling peaceful, grounded and empowered. Allowing ourselves to pause, celebrate and feel into all that we have become in this past year, and envision what we wish to invite into our experience in 2021.
The date/time is January 6th at 1:00pm EST, and is free and open to all – including those not in this sector, but who wish to start the new year with a sense of peace. January 6th is recognized as the Epiphany, and celebrated in different parts of the world, so we wish to name and honor the Wise Kings. May this special date help to infuse us with greater wisdom.
Please join us by registering here! Even if you cannot attend in real time, we will share the recording with all registrants afterwards.
All of us at Black Fox Philanthropy wish you radiant health and wellbeing as you bid adieu to 2020, and usher in a new era of possibility in 2021.
In tenderness, in solidarity,
Natalie Rekstad
P.S. As a certified B-Corp, it is in our mandate to both fulfill a social need and eradicate systemic injustices. As colleagues in this sector, and humans on this journey alongside you, it is also our sacred duty and honor.
