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"BE OPEN . . .
for something wonderful to happen. Be open to the possibility."
The week before last, I had the pleasure of attending a gathering led by Petra from Fruition Seeds. Throughout the experience, Petra echoed the song "Be Open" by Debbie Nargi-Brown (lyrics quoted above).
The entire event embodied the spirit of these simple lyrics, and changed the way I've been moving through the world ever since. Because for the first time in a long time, I was in a room packed with community members and entirely rooted in trust, reciprocity, and care.
By the end of the evening, I could quite literally feel the the love emanating from each person's body, vibrating through the air, and infiltrating the thousands of seed packets in our presence, soon to be making their way across the northeast to be generously shared with anyone that shows up to collect them. Petra showed us the power of radical vision, and invited us to be a part of it.
As I've kept up with and admired the work of Fruition Seeds over the years, I remember reading about their transition from a traditional business operating in the market economy, to an enterprise that shares the wealth that is their seeds (while also voicing their needs). In watching their process of decoupling these practices from the transactions required by capitalism, I remember feeling both curious and skeptical, as well as nervous about what it would mean for their small crew of a dozen employees.
Fruition went through a period of questioning that comes before change, holding the responsibility of being in service to their employees and providing the opportunity for jobs, and acknowledging the tension of moving with the current of the status quo, and the inability to access other opportunities that might arise from making different choices. In sitting with that tension that comes from resisting change out of fear and uncertainty, their business was able to hold both the grief of maintaining the place they were in, and the grief of letting go.
The most important lesson in this, for us, is that - much as we watch children grow and notice how caregiving requires different types and amounts of energy at different stages of life - the process of change is not meant to be without grief, tension, pain, difficulty, and heartache. Being open to opportunity means asking: what do we need to shift in order to be in alignment with what we know to be true?
From what I saw and experienced through Petra's event, amidst the grief of letting go and the inevitable challenges that come from change, there was so much beauty, so much bounty, and such a profound energetic ripple in the unfolding of this embodied gift practice. I am still in awe of the gift of physical seeds, but the metaphorical seeds planted among us that day continue to yield something just as nourishing: possibility, hope, and vision. The reality that something might be harder and can ultimately be better.
This will be the first of many reflections of that evening over the years, as I carry it with me, reflect back, and tap into that palpable energy memory to influence how we move forward in this world.
Warmly,
Tay + Dor
photo by Alexa Romano
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