Our vision
Our vision is of a multi-phase program by and for trans, nonbinary, Two-Spirit, and/or gender expansive people to strengthen our individual and relational capacity. We dream of building a stronger community within and without by sharing and practicing somatic skills and embodied ways of understanding, languaging, and interfacing with our own and each other’s bodyminds. It is our hope that from this process will spring autonomous, or semi-autonomous, groups that will begin to grow in different regions throughout the so-called US, as well as virtually, to nurture beloved communities in any way we might feel called to. Ideally these hubs will develop into broader interconnected networks that will provide needed resources to one another; including places of safety, refuge, sanctuary, care, emotional, relational and financial support.
First of all, why have we decided to do this? Let’s play with a metaphor.
The Ocean
We are a tiny and deeply marginalized part of the larger global community. In the midst of the massive array of challenges and threats to our existence, well-being, and capacity to thrive, our ability to come together, build trust with one another and coordinate collective support and activism is more essential than ever. And yet we are a community contending with a vast ocean of inner and outside forces that can make coming together and organizing for collective action very difficult. These forces include…
Chronic somatic, emotional and relational wounds arising from living in a cisgenderist world that, at the very least, is often ignorant of, and sometimes outright antagonistic to our existence.
Frequent failure to recognize our unique gender identities and expressions in childhood, and thereby not welcoming and supporting our flourishing. The consequence is a profound and early cutting off from and distrust of the deepest messages from our bodyminds as well as our capacity to trust that others can be attuned and responsive to us.
The presence of varying forms of neurodivergence (for many of us) that are often not recognized until much later in life and which can make social collaboration and coordination challenging.
The bodily and emotional mismatch of puberty for many of us.
Societal and religious erasure, stigmatization and demonization that can contribute to hardships around housing, work, and building relationships of any kind.
Being geographically scattered in ways that make it hard to find friends, elders and mentors for our journeys and to tap into collective community wisdom or even connect with one another in shared existence and friendship.
Gatekeeping and limited availability of needed medical and/or mental health care.
The common curse of marginalization (sometimes multiplied by other aspects of our identities) and the way it can generate so much pain, anger, rage, and dissociation… an angst covered by a debilitating undermining of our agency to address the larger forces causing it… and the unfortunate spill over of that pain, anger, rage, and dissociation into our lives. All of this can easily lead to distrust, atomization and factionalization instead of connection and community.
The polarizing nature of social media algorithms and digital silos that reward, weaponize, and propagate outrage… exacerbating fear of others and further atomization within and outside our communities.
The “drip, drip, drip” that forms the 24-hour news tsunami of negativity, calamity, hate, and destruction that erodes our sense of agency and can leave us paralyzed.
And, given that we are a part of such a tiny and diverse community, coming together can require a great deal of our capacity in order to bridge the vast gulf of differences in areas as wide as age, gender, sexual orientation, indigeneity, neurodiversity, disability, race, ethnicity, and religious/spiritual background. To take on bridging even one of these requires a great deal of energy, time and trust in ourselves and others that we can be held with compassion as we do so… many times resources that are in short supply given the numerous challenges we face.
Despite the immense obstacles we face, we have always found a way to one another, as trans, nonbinary, Two-Spirit and/or gender expansive people. However, the more we succumb to the siren’s call of the American Dream and the conventional self-help model, with each of us independently re-inventing the wheel, the less capable and prepared we will be to face the immense challenges of this time as a community. Each of us carry different strengths and vulnerabilities and we are always stronger together. What happens though, when we might find it difficult to engage in community building?
On Community Rafts, Boats and Islands
Given the vastness of the ocean into which we are cast, we can end up feeling adrift, pushed around by currents, swimming alone, and carrying huge weights that threaten to drown us… leaving us exhausted and without much sanctuary for rest, recovery, healing, and care. We need one another to first build the rafts, then the boats, and to eventually harness the collective wisdom to navigate and traverse that ocean in order to find the islands and build the networks and structures we need to thrive. This is the calling that sparked the vision of this project. It is an outgrowth of an awareness that our ability to survive the personal and socio-political crucible in which we find ourselves once more is dependent on our capacity to come together, harness our collective wisdom, and build solidarity and resilience that can weather the myriad factors and forces that can so easily fracture and pull us apart. It is borne of a recognition that the security, strength, and flexibility to adapt to the challenges we face emerge in relationships and collective action… NOT in the absurd and harmful rugged individual bootstrapping narrative we’ve been sold.
It is incredibly important to recognize that we are not trying to build something from scratch! There are so many beautiful small and larger collective islands that are already present within our incredible community and that have built interrelationships with one another. What we are aspiring to do is bring the foundational personal skills (where needed) so that we can all find safety, rest, care, and healing within ourselves and others. We hope to contribute to the wellspring of energy and creative capacity which will enhance and accelerate our ability to collaborate and coordinate with one another to build the structures we all need to thrive. It is the strategy of the redwoods, which despite not having deep roots, have roots that travel far and wide to interlace and interweave with other redwoods to create a potent network of collective support and resilience.
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The first phase of the program will focus on cultivating greater understanding, awareness and practical strategies for promoting experiences of relative safety within our own and with each others’ nervous systems. This will begin with becoming familiar and learning to dialogue with the currents of our own nervous system. We will then explore practical somatic, embodied and relational strategies to support re-attunement to the present moment rather than drowning in the currents of the past. It is essential to be able to identify when our nervous system has gotten stuck in fight, flight, freeze or fawn to be able to help it return to a more fluid state, which also enables us to connect with others with more ease. When the demands of life require us to move through a vast ocean, becoming collectively skillful at finding opportunities for rest, and for sharing burdens and care is foundational to being able to traverse that ocean. This is where we can begin to build authentic relationships and connections rooted in trust and mutuality, which are essential elements of the next phase of this work.
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In subsequent phases of the project we’ll be delving into exploring the ways our gender identities, as well as other factors (such as neurodivergence and/or racialization to name a few), have likely impacted our earliest bonds with our caregivers and the subsequent ripple effects this can have on our relationships. We’ll be exploring principles and practices of “secure relating” to create the safer harbors that magnify our capacity for rest, recovery, care, and healing. This liberates us to more effectively relate, connect and create communities of need and interdependence, building the more sturdy boats upon which we can travel together through gradually more challenging ocean conditions. For it is when we have a secure home base and resources that we know we can take the risks to explore new horizons and face the hardships and obstacles sometimes found in that process.
We will be deeply examining the foundational colonial cisgender narrative, which has been insidiously and aggressively foisted upon us from the earliest phases of life. This has often left us with faulty tools and strategies for navigation that have condemned us to chart difficult, and at times life-threatening, courses upon the ocean. We will explore foundational healing knowledge, perspectives, and skills as well as call on the deep and empowering wisdom of our queer, trans and gender blessed ancestors that helps us chart a more joyous and life-affirming course together.
