The EnneaActivist

Black Lives Matter.

It felt important to get off of social media/echo chamber to do more work in moving the needle towards anti-oppression; and dive even deeper into vulnerable, conversations about race, biases, beliefs, privileges, and ways we perpetuate harms, with the people in my immediate circles and beyond.

So much grief and pain and loss has happened. And the ongoing burden of it being felt mostly by our BIPOC community members, as always.

If you need a sign of when things will get too bad or go too far, and that’s what you’re waiting for before getting involved, stop waiting. Enough waiting. Get involved now. The signs have been everywhere for decades, for centuries. It is never too late to learn to be a better human for your community members, to recognize the deeply rooted impacts of white supremacy on each of us, in dramatically different ways.

Every single one of us who talks about anti-oppression or tries to live their life from an equity and justice framework started somewhere. Maybe you started a few months ago with a book club and it’s still fresh and uncertain territory. Maybe some of you never had a choice at all, having to grow up navigating systemic oppression around literally every corner. We are dynamic humans, we have so much capacity to learn and to change, and do better. There are literal lives on the line.

My heart is heavy, and angry, and frustrated that change moves slower than I want it to, but anti-blackness/racism, as deeply embedded as it is in the world, isn’t going away overnight.

I cannot imagine the sorrow and anguish that our BIPOC community members have to carry each day. And despite all of that, still have joy, celebrate birthdays, dance, and care for one another. In particular, QTBIPOC resiliency is beyond comprehensible. I shouldn’t have to celebrate the fact that you’re good at dealing with oppression on every level. You don’t deserve that.

I’m not committing to posting here again soon, I’m spending a lot more time with my family than working on my business. People are more important than any business could ever be.

Specifically, . Black lives are important. Black lives are cherished.
🖤

[🏡51]

Yesterday my wife and I celebrated our 6 year wedding anniversary! So, it seemed only fitting to share one of the first gifts Reigh ever made me for today’s

This window pane hangs in our bedroom, where I can see it everyday.

I’m so grateful to have this beautiful reminder of our wedding day be the first thing I see when I wake up and fall asleep (besides my wife, of course!)

We eloped when we were so young. I’m grateful that love gets better with age. I’m grateful to have a partner that only gets easier to love.

I’m grateful to live and love in a world that is more accepting of q***r folx, even if we still have some work to do.

I’m grateful for the daffodils and daisies, filling bouquets and gardens around the world. I’m grateful for scent memories.

I’m grateful to no longer have to be in a long-distance relationship—my heart goes out to all of those now grappling with separation from someone you love!

I’m so grateful for the few family and friends who were able to cross a border to Canada (wasn’t legal in Michigan!) with just a few days notice to help us celebrate our love at 8 in the morning, whether or not they thought it was a great decision.

I’m so grateful we trusted our guts—it was definitely the right decision.

Do you have photos displayed in your house that help you feel grateful for the special relationships in your life?






🌈 ***rcouples ***r

[🏡49]
Today my inspiration surprised me by being a cup of tea.

Did you know that a cup of tea is a combination of all 4 traditional elements at work?

I’m grateful for the earth for fostering an environment for tea leaves to grow. 🌱

Grateful for the opportunity to have visited Darjeeling a few years ago, to sample the freshest available tea on this earth. I’m hopeful for the opportunity to travel and see more of the beautiful earth again. 🌏

Grateful for water that so gracefully carries the nutrients from the tea leaves into my body. 💧

Grateful to the fire under my kettle, heating the water to the perfect temperature to blend with the leaves. 🔥

Grateful for the air in my lungs, which gently cools the top of my cup to make it a temperature I can safely drink. 💨

For extra good measure, I’m grateful for the dairy cows that provide us with rich cream 🐮 and I’m grateful for the sugar canes for the extra sweetness they bring into our life.🍬

On days it’s harder to feel grateful for anything, I pour a cup of tea.

What are some of your reminders to have gratitude when you’re not feeling it?

[🏡33]
It is such a privilege and opportunity to be so conscious to what basic nourishment means for our bodies.

So much of what we’ve been cooking at our home has been from as scratch as we can make it—from homemade cheese to all of the different types of doughs.

And so, bread/nourishment is the theme of my post today.

I’m beyond grateful for the staples:
Flour, eggs, milk.

Grateful that every time I knead dough for bread, I’m doing the same body movements that my ancestors did. Baking has never felt more like an act of connection to the people I will never meet.

Grateful for the wheat stalks that grow across the prairies where I live. Grateful for the farmers who process it down into soft, dusty flour that covers my hands.

Grateful for the muscles in my arms and hands as I knead, that demonstrate I am capable of gentle, nurturing strength.

Grateful for all of the trees that became a strong, wooden spoon.

Grateful for the yeast that reminds me to rise.
That we all do better with with a supportive, warm environment.

Grateful for the bakers who have shared all of their knowledge freely for those taking up a homemade bread practice.

Grateful for the privilege of time, able-bodiness, and shelter that I have to be able to cook with intention.

Humbly grateful to not be gluten free by medical necessity.

Apologetic to my body for times I followed an endless diet culture into believing bread is something I shouldn’t eat; especially when it’s something that brings amazing comfort and nourishment.

What are the ways that you’ve felt connected to nourishment while you’ve been home?







:




@ Edmonton, Alberta

[🏡29]

Like many people, today I’m particularly grateful for our social instincts.

In the Enneagram world, theorists talk about how three human instincts play a major role in how we react to getting our needs met, among other things.

Those instincts are commonly known as: self-preservation, social, and sexual.

Right now, I’m grateful to live in a community and family that values the social instinct and an “others first” mindset.

And bonus, it helps challenge my otherwise pretty “self-preservation” point of view on life.

Our social instinct is the voice that says “I know that if I have their back, they’ll have mine when I need it too. No one gets left behind.”

I’m grateful for the community organizers leading mutual aid groups of all forms right now. Many of whom I would expect to be social instinct dominant.

I’m grateful that social instinct can look like lemon bars going to different households of people you’d otherwise be having dinner with tonight.

It’s knowing each of these homes are sending something right back. 💗

[🏡27]
Wow folks, I can’t believe a week has passed, my apologies! Time feels a lot different right now, as I’m sure a lot of you are also experiencing.

Even though a lot of time has passed without sharing them with you, there has been so much to be grateful for.

This week, my was inspired by art and artists.

This week I got to watch live concerts for two of my favourite musicians and I’m so grateful, because frankly I wouldn’t be able to hear either of their beautiful music played live without these weird circumstances, given that I live in he prairies Canada.

Monday, my wife and I were supposed to see our favourite poet perform exclusively love poems in Vancouver. Since it was through their poetry that my wife and I met, we were looking forward to celebrating our anniversary a little early this year by attending.

Instead, my wife and I read poetry to each other that night, filling my heart with gratitude that we have people in this world who create such beautiful work. Words that evoke such powerful body-memories of what it felt like to be falling in love with my partner many years ago.

Many of us are facing disappointment that something we were looking forward to was cancelled or indefinitely postponed.

Seeing all of the ways that people have been accessing art and music as a way to cope with a global trauma has reaffirmed how life-giving art is. And how grateful I am to live in a world full of it.

I’m grateful to the poets, the musicians, the painters, the potters, the natural-dyers, the filmmakers, the knitters.

I’m grateful for the world of expression and vibrancy all of these creators share with us.

Grateful for those who show us the importance of creation, of following the inspiration, in whatever medium or outlet feels right and good.

Grateful for the artists who help us learn, and grow by challenging us to look at something from a new perspective.

I’m grateful for metaphor, colour, and song.

Grateful for all of the ways that art keeps us entertained, engaged, and excited about the world we live in and the people in our communities.

(Continued in comments)

[🏡19]
As someone who identifies with waves of emotion come easily and often for me.

Another line from our favourite poet really stuck with me many years ago.
“I cry as often as most people p*e, and I don’t shut the door behind me”

I cry about everything and with a lot every emotion. Happy tears. Embarrassed tears. Afraid tears. Heavy tears. Gratitude tears. Community tears.

My family and I call it a symptom of OTDS—overactive tear duct syndrome. I’m told this is something I have in common with my late grandmother.

So I started using this handkerchief on this last New Year’s Eve—my favourite holiday and a day I was already predicting to be overwhelmingly emotional for me ☺️ my wife and I started calling it my cry cloth.

For those of you new to the world of using handkerchiefs instead of disposable tissues, let me tell you: you’re about to be much more comfortable with your face fluids 😭🤧😉

But here’s why my handkerchief is one of my moments today:

These beautifully woven cotton threads help remind me that I have made it through every single one of my worst days. Every time the emotions were too much. That this small piece of fabric can hold it all in its soft, safe threads.

It reminds me to feel my emotions and release them. To let go of all I’ve been holding in. To not dwell and wallow in all that I’m feeling, but to give space for it to exist and let the rest fall away as needed.

This same cloth reminds me of some really joyful moments, when I was laughing so hard I couldn’t stop crying.

Lavender, my favourite colour and flower. Representing grace and elegance. Reminding me to be gentle and nurturing with myself when I feel too much at once.

Reusing a cloth, for someone who cries as often as me, helps me feel more connected to my global responsibility too.
(Continued in comments below💗)

[🏡18]
Sometimes gratitude can come from unexpected places.
Like from making pancakes.

Swirling the cinnamon into my batter, I kept picturing galaxies.

I’m so grateful to be a part of this galaxy—this world.

For the magnificent stars and great unknowns of the sky.
I’m grateful for every piece of stardust within each of us on this planet.

Grateful to the earth for growing each of the ingredients, and for all the people involved in planting, harvesting, packaging, shipping, and stocking them for me to use.

Grateful to the universe for providing us with food and dynamic flavours like cinnamon to keep things interesting and nourishing.

Grateful for heritage and tradition, as I’ve been eating German pancakes in my family for as long as I can remember.

I admit, it’s been a little harder to feel connected to gratitude in the last few days. Reminding me it is quite a “practice”, and some days will be easier and other days it will only happen when you’re staring at batter.

I’ve chosen to be gentle with myself about gratitude practices being a challenge some days and I hope you can be too, especially if you feel like the world has been turned upside down.

If you feel up to it, I invite you to share a part of your home that has inspired you to feel grateful or has otherwise supported you during this period of self-isolation using . Even sharing the last few snippets of my home and gratitude with y’all has helped me feel so much more connected to my home, manage my anxiety, and feel more connected to all of you. I’d love to hear what about being home is inspiring your gratitude today!

Together in spirit,
Xoxo

[🏡14]
For today’s moment, I’ve been so grateful for my access to clean, running, warm water, inspired by the bath I took for some anxiety relief today.

Running water is one of many of our greatest privileges, particularly while navigating this crisis.

I’m grateful each time I wash my hands to have the opportunity to practice mindfulness and to do something for my community.

That in this one small, humbling act, I’m helping protect the vulnerable members of our family from catching a potentially deadly virus.

It’s a heavy weight, knowing that even after 2 weeks of isolating, my province is still only on the early side of the rising curve of infections, and that most of us have yet to see the worst of it.

So knowing that my access to water is such a valuable asset to stoping the spread of this virus, as well as being one of the biggest privileges in the world to have, washing my hands has become a nearly holy act of gratitude. My bathroom becoming a privately spiritual place.

I’m grateful for soap. I’m grateful for the natural water cycle of our earth that replenishes our streams and rivers. I’m grateful for the cotton in our hand towels and the people who made them.

Sometimes it feels like washing my hands is the only thing I can do to combat the looming uncertainty coming towards us.

And maybe today it is.

Take it one day at a time, people.

Just keep washing your hands and please stay home if you can.💗

[🏡11]

Today I’m grateful for communion.

I grew up catholic, so this word has had a particular connotation for me for a long time. And while I rarely drink anymore, I’m grateful for the glass of wine that reminded me of gratitude today. So here’s the moment of the day for you.

Today, communion reminds me of the Latin root origin—sharing, in common. Community union. Coming together in ceremony and in solidarity.

I’m grateful for all of the ways I see people coming together. Supporting and uplifting each other. Grateful that so many are staying home to give medical professionals and immunosuppressive folx a fighting chance.

I’m grateful for those who immediately created mutual aid spreadsheets and Facebook groups.

Grateful for those who work in critical roles at this time. Medical staff, school teachers, grocery clerks, and sanitation engineers, all taking care of our basic needs despite the risks to their own health.

I’m grateful that despite all of the scarcity in the world right now, there are so many people with the instinct to share and connect with community.

I’m grateful for the homemade bottle of wine that our neighbors left on our porch in exchange for a few plants. ☺️ For all of the different things we share.

This wine glass was a gift from my wife years ago, when we were moving from my home state of Michigan to Texas. It’s engraved with words from our favourite poet , and it reminds me that home is a place wherever love is found, not any one location.

I’m holding so many people and places in my heart right now. Praying for health and safety for everyone across the globe, in a way I’ve never prayed before. I’m grateful for the lesson. Grateful for all of those praying with me. Communion.

Having a glass for all the people who did something for their community today💗

What is a part of being home that has inspired your gratitude today?