My community offerings are made on the gift economy. What this means to me is that I hold my offerings as a gift that I give freely and joyfully. This is both an exercise of trusting in the care of community and of discerning for myself what it is that I most long to give to the world. I hold with deep gratitude that there are people who want to receive what I most want to give. I feel deeply met in this exchange.
This is an experiment informed by teachers and friends who are paving the way including Kazu Haga, Lizhen Wang, Robin Wall Kimmerer, the East Bay Meditation Center, and the land and the trees.
Gifts offered on the gift economy are not “free.” On my side of this experiment in the gift economy, I ask myself, what do I want to give freely and joyfully. And on your side as a recipient of my gift, I ask what it is you want to give to be in right-sized reciprocity. Living in a capitalist system, many of us don’t get to practice this discernment of right-sized reciprocity. We are conditioned in this system to look for the best deals and discounts. So I share here some information about my personal circumstances as grounding to start:
In a healthy ecosystem, we are held by different beings who have unique gifts and response-abilities. I am held by a wide network of beings who support me and my work and I trust that the gifts that are meant to come my way through this experiment in gift economy will make their way to me. No single workshop or offering or space I facilitate will be able to meet all my financial needs. And I believe that gifts continue to flow whether or not I have visibility into the wider web. I close by saying that the work I do on the gift economy is truly a gift to give, regardless of what I receive financially in response. A time may come when offering spaces on the gift economy is no longer viable for me and I might step away from this experiment. Thank you for trying a different way with me for now.