Intention Set
On settee looking east. It’s a little before 2 o’clock. I’ve been up since a little before 6 a.m. As I move through the morning's activities, I stop and watch the sunrise. It never gets old. Always different. Every dawn the promises of what might be.
It’s two months out from my birthday and wintering for Luminare Group and the Equitable Evaluation Initiative.
This time last year I remember feeling as if every fiber of my being was on alert. It was as if a magnetic current was running through my circuits; it both attracted and repelled. It was exhausting.
I am determined to not collapse into winter break this year, but rather I will intentionally transition into it with ease, spaciousness and gratitude.
Intention set.
As time moves forward (and some might also say backward and standing still), I’ve been paying more attention to what holds my attention, as well as where I find ease. A few things are coming into focus:
My commitment to self-care must remain resolute. I can already feel folks pushing, asking and acting with an urgency that reinforces exactly what they proclaim as that which they wish to address. No, thank you.
The appeal of my positionality has an expiration date. It is a thought that simmers in a small pot at the back of the stove every. single. day. Every single day and throughout the day. I am constantly deciding in what ways who/what/how I am affords me access, but also how it might tip the influence scales towards transformation so that someone like me is no longer needed. To be redundant is my aspiration.
There is more than enough. There is more than enough of all the things. I will continue to reject competition and a scarcity mindset. I will continue to cultivate and seek out spaces and places where the myriad of possibilities are invited, embraced and explored. This includes the practice of the Equitable Evaluation Framework™, how Luminare Group approaches strategy formation and planning and other areas of interest. And if I see you bringing forward the above, it shall be named.
So as the days get shorter, I make a promise (something I rarely do) to myself and those in my orbit: to keep compassion, gratitude, abundance and love as that which not only centers me, but guides me.
This piece was started on October 10th and completed on November 4th
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About The Author:
Jara Dean-Coffey (jdc) is Founder and Director of the Equitable Evaluation Initiative and the Founder of Luminare Group. For the past twenty-five years, she has partnered with clients and colleagues to elevate their collective understanding of the relationship between values, context, strategy and evaluation and shifting our practices so that they are more fully in service of equity. For more about musings + machinations click here.
