Attunement, fluidity, and connection: Session recap and looking ahead
Dear friends,
Our recent session with Natalie Loveless and Carrie Smith focused intensely on attunement. How do we build fluidity into our work so that we can modulate our priorities, our tempo, our focus as needed? The elements of profound care and accountability that are inherently part of attunement feel radical and inspiring to me. What would it look like to find ways to deeply, powerfully value the quiet noticing that is fundamental to this mode of working?
Part of this is also an attunement to ourselves and our own needs. We may work differently when we are feeling hopeful vs. when we are feeling outraged. When we are running on empty vs. when we are bubbling over. When we need to absorb vs. when we can't help but write.
I think about how my kids move when time constraints are not a factor. Sometimes they sprint, jump, nearly fly. And sometimes it takes us ages to go a block, as they stop to examine everything that crosses their field of vision. Perhaps if we can strengthen the ways in which we are accountable to one another, the ways in which we support one another, these ebbs and flows may come to feel interesting and fruitful rather than depleting or worrisome.
Maybe. Though it is clear that burnout is continuing to take a toll, and that capitalist logics resist this kind of fluidity. Still, it brings me joy to know that even in the hour we spend together each month, even though that time is limited, it can be a moment to explore a different mode of working and thinking and being together. A moment, maybe, of resistance.
So many great resources were shared during the conversation. Here are a few:
- Gesturing Towards Decolonial Futures
- The Nap Ministry, Tricia Hersey
- Hospicing Modernity by Vanessa Machado de Oliveira
Thank you, Natalie and Carrie, for connecting with us.
Looking Ahead
Speaking of tempo, over the summer I'd like to make sure that our pacing as a group feels restful and measured, not rushed or tiring. I've put three summer sessions on the calendar and will be in touch in the weeks ahead with plans for how we will use that time. If you have work you would be interested in sharing and discussing in the context of an Inkcap session—either your own writing or something you have loved or want to dig into—please let me know.
For now, please mark your calendars for the following dates:
- Wednesday, June 8, 1pm (note different day/time)
- Tuesday, July 5, 2pm
- Tuesday, Aug 2, 2pm
- Tues, Sept 9, 2pm
You can register for all sessions here. (Consider these to be penciled-in for now; they may shift for various reasons as they get closer. Kids + summer = weird schedules)
As the semester comes to an end for many, I hope it brings a moment of stillness or movement, quietness or release—whatever creates for you a sense of balance and wholeness.
With warmth,
Katina
