“Connection is communication with courage.”
We view these gatherings as a way to BUILD COMMUNITY.
OUR COMMUNITY is a welcome space - it is a space where we are welcoming of all individuals.
OUR COMMUNITY is a brave space - it is a space where you can say what is unsaid within you. When you are ready.
OUR COMMUNITY is a safe space - it is a space where you are seen and heard without judgment or criticism.
We believe in compassionate listening.
We believe that empathy is everything.
We believe in building a place of belonging through kindness, openness, vulnerability, patience, and unwavering support.
- We are happy to see each other (We greet each other with gladness).
- We root for each other (We do not compete or compare. In this community, we all win.).
- We recognize that each person has infinite potential to dream big and reach for their goals (We do not project our fears onto each other’s ambitions, we do not encourage anyone to shrink or “stay in their lane”).
- We respect the attention and awareness that others generously offer us (We do not energy suck, energy dump, or monopolize the precious time we spend together).
- We are equal (We are all deserving and worthy of each other’s goodness.).
- We are independent (We create healthy, honest bonds, free of codependency).
- We offer suggestions based on our lived wisdom and experience when it is asked for (We do not diagnose each other. We do not tell anyone what to do. We do not try to enforce our personal definitions of right and wrong.).
- We are each other’s confidants (We hold each other’s lives to be sacred and private. Whatever is said in the gathering, stays in the gathering.).
This is a place where your body can rest, and your dreams can be held.
Exhale, you are home.
In partnership,
Evidence for Action and Partners for Advancing Health Equity
These guidelines were gently adapted for the Ways of Knowing Symposia from the original version developed by author and poet Cleo Wade. We are grateful to her for sharing her words with us.