a repetitive stretch
it’s been about a month since we’ve locked virtual eyes with each other (i’m talking about these letters sent to your inbox), and i’m glad to be back with you! in fact, i’m dropping my picture in this letter in case you forgot who i was (if only i could insert a laughing emoji right here…). Ha!
there is much i am thankful for. one is for this season of stretching. physically, it is one of my constant grounding practices. some mornings look like two minutes of deep breaths and stretches; other mornings look like thirty minutes of silence, deep breaths, stretches that relieve the pain yet expand my reach and smooth returns. smooth returns to my body pre-stretch, now strengthened.
there is something about this practice that is repetitively important. with each morning, my body releases the pent-up tensions and begins to conform to a new shape, a better posture, a more conducive structure to what my body currently needs and will need. in the moment, the stretches seem to do only so much, yet, as the days compound, as my mindset shifts, as my reflections become sharper, i realize i have been transformed.
follow along with me.
TCW is my love. a love that develops in real-time. a love that i share with you. aware of the present yet focused on creating the future -- ethically, lovingly, and expansively.
formerly, TCW rested on the premise of womanism, spirituality, and conflict resolution. while the first two remain, i have been in the active study for our content here (stay tuned for our coming letters!), and find that conflict transformation, rather than resolution, is a better-suited term (guideline, ethic, principle) for who we are.
one of the critical tenets of conflict transformation is the ongoing question of “how do we end something destructive and build something desired?”. conflict transformation is relationship-centered. it focuses on constructive change. it is a re-developing of tools, disciplines, and practices that address the present and powerfully transform a very near and possible future.
TCW is going through a new round of this “repetitive stretch.” this requires a re-look to where we glean. these are some of the changes that will happen here.
i plan to embed these four grounding principles into our space:
womanism (ethics, theology, spirituality, literature & practitioners)
conflict transformation (skills, literature, practices & practitioners)
political education (literature, practitioners, organizations & collectives)
spirituality (*not relegated to christianity alone as that is my background, but embedding an expansive view of spiritualists, indigenous faiths, & practices)
this is my commitment to this endless stretch. ever-expanding, ever-reflecting, ever-growing.
moving forward, TCW will also take on a new schedule until the end of 2021. God willing.
newsletters will be in your inboxes every two weeks on wednesdays. the content will reflect at least one of our core principles stated above. new voices will be on this platform as well.
i’m very excited about the changes made here, and i hope you will be too.
but, one more thing, i really can use your help. there’s been an increasing number of you who’ve joined this space, and i say welcome, welcome, welcome! it would greatly support TCW if you would personally share this newsletter/community with one person you think would appreciate what is here and invite them to subscribe and join. just one. yup, really, just one!
thank you deeply.
so, to repetitive stretches, adjustments, and growth, cheers! see you in two weeks!