By Christy Kay, Rising Hearts Studio/Cosmic Healing
On the eve of the first day of Spring, March 20th, HUGGS (Helping us Give/Get Support) and Rising Hearts Studio held a Community Conversation focused on Resiliency. In these times of incredible global shift, information overload, and constant trauma exposure, it is important to talk about how to steward ourselves. Trauma response is an emotional reaction to exposure to distressing experiences or events. Trauma resilience is the ability to adapt within our experience to mitigate the effects of trauma. We started the conversation with several ways to work on your personal trauma resilience. This includes personal control- what do you realistically have control over, and meaningful task making- intentionally practicing ways that help create sparks of joy and hope within you. Our emotional response or reaction to trauma can be eased if our endocrine system is healthy, this may mean lifestyle changes- are you eating healthy, exercising, sleeping?
Personal trauma resilience is the first aspect of healthy trauma response. The second is access to support, and a healthy community. We can only do so much alone, we need each other. This is the way forward. Our conversation moved toward what we all think and want our community to be. How do we help support and hold each other? How do we work to build and create and maintain healthy communities? These questions are part of a larger, continuing conversation, and we will meet often in the coming months to discuss them.
Our conversation last night was multifaceted, with vulnerability and bravery, and there was a sharing of stories that led to deeper connection. We each had our own ideas, thoughts, insights, and offerings that together weaved a beautiful tapestry. And that’s how we start building community, one thread at a time. Community, as we concluded it in last night’s conversation, is a coming together of people who have commonality– whether that be location, personal interests and hobbies, or spiritual beliefs, and ideologies- to connect and to support and care for one another. We are all part of our local community because we live here together in this space on a floating rock. We are all different, but this one common trait is what brings us together. Even as the national and global world starts to shift, where we are, and the needs of the people who live here, are a constant. How do we meet those needs?
We discussed how important it is to know who your neighbors are, because if the world were to start on fire, both literally and metaphorically, it is our neighbors who we would need to depend on and also support. In the greater picture, locally, we all have at least one thing in common- we live here. I also believe we share in our love for this beautiful place we live, work and recreate in. We are a small but mighty community who, when disaster does strike, have shown we can come together to work for the common good. Do you know who your neighbors are? If not, NOW is the time to introduce yourself and start a conversation. Maybe invite them in for a meal. When we share our humanity with each other, it makes us stronger as people, and as a community – our connection to each other is real.
This morning, as I went to the river for my daily meditation practice, I was stopped by someone in distress. They needed help with the situation they were in, and I of course stopped and offered support and care, as best as I could. After they were able to calm and regulate their nervous system, we had a little conversation in which they shared with me, that they had needed to talk to someone for a few days but felt like they had no one to reach out to. They didn’t want to “bother” anyone. But they also felt that if their world started to end, there was no one they could connect to, that when it came down to it, they were all alone in the world. This was a neighbor and friend, and longtime community member who was feeling this way. I am sure there are many more who think they are all alone, and don’t know how to find community, even though they live here. This struck me deeply, in that we all are so entrained in the belief that we must go it alone, that there is no one who would care for us in our time of need, that we have forgotten how to even ask for help. I believe that our work right now is to build healthy, strong, cohesive and collaborative communities, so that no one has unmet needs, or are made to feel helpless, despairing or hopeless. We, as humans, have a basic need of belonging, to support and be supported.
We ended last night by taking our intentions for what we each want to see and be within our community and literally planted seeds. Each of us left with several little pots of soil with newly planted flowers, to be nurtured for growth, and to share with our neighbors, and friends. May these plants allow for a new conversation, that expands our connection beyond what we currently experience, to tend to the soil that is our community, and grow a garden of beautiful flowers that supports and nurtures the life of all.
Much love and many Blessings my Friends, in Community.
Rising Hearts Studio is located in downtown Nehalem, and Christy Kay, a wellness practitioner in various modalities offers a variety of healing services including Reiki, sound baths/singing bowls, crystals and much more www.cosmichealingnw.com
