My heart is full. It is the first week of The Auntie Way Writing Retreat Fall 2021 Sessions. My heart is full because I have the tremendous joy and honor of sitting alongside brilliant scholars and inviting and encouraging them to dream…what is it they want in their writing, their lives, their futures?
I love this process. It’s magical.
When scholars–who care deeply about their communities, building a better word for the future generations, and transforming our institutions to be more socially just–when these good individuals have the time and space to step away from the pushes and pulls of everyday life–when they have the energy and courage to reconnect with their dreams–it is such a gift…to us all. When a group is inspired to do so, the power is exponential–modeling for each other what it can look like to accept fear, doubt, and individualism as part of the academic culture we’ve inherited, and lovingly move forward into a new academic culture with which we’re (re)creating or (re)connecting.
Of course, the beautiful teachings of the power of the collective and the understanding that witnessing someone grow and thrive is a blessing–these are not new. They are old, old lessons rooted in our beautiful Indigenous homelands. They are lessons older than humans, part of a curriculum of life Creator and our More than Human Relations established Since Time Immemorial.
Can you imagine what is possible if our academic institutions, built on Indigenous homelands, caught up with our timeless, blessed teachings?
I can. It’s a future with full hearts and beautiful dreams realized.
Join us.
Registration is open for The Auntie Way Writing Retreat Fall 2021 Sessions.
Michelle M. Jacob 