I came to talk about climate and migration justice. Instead, I spent my time talking about intuition, inner purpose, and foremothers. I am a deeply practical person and this was deliciously unexpected.
The call to join Foregather had been irresistible. Even though I was unsure how this gathering would directly correlate to moving forward ideas in that I’ve been nurturing over the past months, I felt drawn to find out.
I like to get stuff done. This is evident even in the name I chose for my consultancy practice, Pragmatic Radicals. I chose to qualify the ‘radical’ with ‘pragmatic’ as if to assure potential collaborators or clients that even when working boldly and ambitiously to disrupt systems, it would be done in a way that creates tangible results.
So the invitation to tap into something deeper, reconnecting to self, to community and to the land was both enticing and a choice to stretch my creative muscles and tap into new energies that I don’t often attend to. It came at a time when I was – and am – bringing to life a collaborative enquiry that asks “As our home, planet Earth, experiences devastating climatic shifts, and people are displaced from their homes, what might a society that welcomes people seeking sanctuary look like?”
I’m comfortable working with emergence and uncertainty but this enquiry represents a huge question. It spans multiple co-existing ecosystems and taps deeply into structures of racism, patriarchy and capitalism upholding our current systems. I’ve sat wondering if an ambition to knit this all together is too grand, even delusional, applying ‘intuitive delay’ to the process as I talk to others who I think might share some of this passion and sense-check my thinking.
A weekend in community with other incredible, passionate, bold women was less about the practicalities of taking my ideas off the page, and more about re-connecting to why I’m doing this work – for now a ‘soulful side project’ as Foregather hosts Laura, Emily and Fran might describe it – and realising that so many of us know in our heart and in our gut that most of the systems we live in are broken. Each of the Foregather women is seeking to repair or replace some part of it. That this reflective space gave us reconnection to the land felt equally special, with the waves crashing off the Devon headland in the distance and the autumnal vibes reminding us that harvesting our learning and taking rest is also part of the work.
But it was when we started talking about our foremothers that something, somehow, fell into place. We stand on the shoulders of the amazing women who have gone before us, they have shaped who we are and who we’re meant to be. For me, and for many of us, our foremothers did not lead the lives of opportunity that we are lucky to lead. And some of them had lives that were far too short. So if we dare to dream to expansively, it’s because we are carrying not only our own dreams but those of our foremothers, channelling their power through us and with us and onwards together.
As another member of the gathering shared with the group, just as we look back at our ancestors and what they built for us, so we look forward to our descendants, and the society we want to build for our children and their children. That means what kind of planet they’ll inherit, what kind of communities they might live in and how humanity might co-exist in harmony with one another and with nature. And its only by daring to try, that new paths will emerge.
“I guess I didn’t need to you tell me how to launch a project in practical terms, I already knew that” I said, as I bid farewell to Laura, one of my hosts. “And Foregather was never really about launching new projects” she replied, “It’s about connecting with ourselves, creating community around us, and reconnecting to our purpose.” As we navigate layer upon layer of polycrises, this feels like the most powerful, affirming, life-sustaining gift we could hope for.
It is with this gift held close that I’ll be starting to share and publish more about my new project, alongside some wonderful collaborators and partners. I hope you’ll join me.