If we’ve connected at any point over the last few weeks, you’ve probably heard me say how thankful I am for the little glimmers of light and motivation that have come through lately.
I’ve been sitting with a lot of gratitude for what I get to do day to day. I really love and deeply believe in The Giving Gifts. Honestly, it still feels kind of wild that this work has held so much consistency and stability, especially over the last year and a half.
At the same time, getting to be the person behind so much of the day-to-day carrying of this vision has felt hard at times.
Over the last five-ish months, I’ve had a lot of moments where I’ve questioned whether I’m the right person to be doing this. There have been days where I’m inviting people into the vision, sharing opportunities, dreaming out loud, and at the exact same time internally wondering if any of it is actually as important as it feels to me.
I feel like that’s maybe the harder part to talk about. Not the work itself…the mental side of continuing to show up for something while also moving through doubt.
Especially when your brain is anything like mine…ideas can come in a million directions at once. Sometimes it feels like every piece matters, every idea feels urgent, and all of a sudden there are so many moving parts that it becomes hard to tell what is actually foundational and what is just noise.
At the beginning of April, I took a moment to really look at everything and over the month I think something really shifted for me there.
For the first time in the life of The Giving Gifts, I realized that the foundation is actually strong.
When I stopped looking only at what still needs to happen and started looking at what has already been built, I could finally see the pillars that have been holding all of this together through growth, change, pivots, and new community.
It feels like we’re entering a new season with a clearer understanding of what has already been here and what it’s ready to become.
The first pillar is community and belonging.
This is so much of what we are building here in Ensenada…the monthly gatherings, weekly cowork, workshops, cleanups, and spaces where people can connect and feel like they belong.
The second pillar is youth.
In so many ways, this has been the heart of The Giving Gifts since day one. It has taken time to really understand what this should look like in practice, and I’m REALLLLLLLY excited that we’re finally getting to pilot a program that has been in the works for a while.
Alongside that, we’ll also be bringing on two summer interns from May through August, which feels really exciting as we test out a new internship model.
The third pillar is global connection, relationships, resources, and research.
This has also been such a consistent and important part of the vision for a long time. Building meaningful relationships, sharing resources, learning, research on the impact of trauma and continuing to connect this work beyond one place.
The last few weeks have held a lot.
A lot of organizing, a lot of planning and visioning, alot of conversations with really wonderful people. I am so thankful for the white board wall I have that has been filled, erased, and filled again countless times!
We actually shared the community intern role on social media and the amount of interest honestly blew my mind. The affirmation that people really care and truly want to be part of the direction we are moving is so incredibly affirming.
Over the next few weeks, I’ll also be bringing some freshness to the website, identifying ways to secure additional funding, and continuing to invite people into the vision.
I really wanted this to be an update, and also an invitation.
An invitation to stay connected, to reach out, to share ideas, and to be part of what this next season could look like.
I’m really excited about what’s unfolding.