My well ancestors have been balm for my wounding around perfectionism. They have both helped and challenged me to remove the pieces of this armor that I carry with un-ending love and firmness. They continue to give me many reality checks about the true price tag of this luxury and lovingly reinforce over and over again that the pursuit of perfection devours time and thrives on the isolation of one from the greater web of life.

As we are witnessing the wide range of illnesses and “-isms” in the world like racism, sexism, impacts of colonialism, xenophobia, violence towards women, exploitative capitalism and misogyny, I invite use to all keep in mind the wisdom of Ruby Sales who says, “We are not born any of these things, by the contrary we are ritualized into perpetuating and upholding these “isms” in the world.”

Welcoming this new year has been a celebration filled with ease and goodness this year. Generally, birthdays are ungrounding and grief-filled reminders of the temporal nature of this body here on earth and a deep longing for home. Somehow, this year feels different and was met with a steadiness that I’ve never felt before- a feeling that my feet are firmly on the ground.

Each of us belongs to our own village and part of the sacred work in life is reclaiming relationships and access to the support of those in the village that we do not see. Neither time nor circumstance removes us from the village because the village is woven into our blood and bones. This life continues to be an invitation to return home to the village over and over again for nourishment, resourcing and growth.