I don't share your faith, I'm a firmly dyed-in-the-wool atheist and humanist, but I love your perspective and your strength and your generosity. I'm 57 years old and have spent much of the last 20 years quailing in the shadow of fear as our safe and comfortable life fell apart due to disability, only saved by the incredible love and generosity of my in-laws, despite the strain it put on them to take us in and help raise our children to a safe adulthood, and I didn't know how much I needed your calm and peace and focus on abundance until I found it and let myself really soak it in. I'm fortunate now to have a large garden thanks to the free community garden spaces in the seniors development we now live in with my mother-in-law, and I've been slowly relearning the power and joy of food gardening after almost 20 years away from the hobby gardening of my privileged young adulthood. I'm learning to grow what we need, learning to preserve it, making some badly needed money to support it by selling 'organic' vegetable seedlings in the spring, and hoping I can do enough for my family to make a difference as the world falls apart around us. You're one of the few explicitly christian youtubers and homesteaders I've felt comfortable following, because I don't feel unwelcome or judged here, and I don't feel like your silences on politics and the world are support of the evils around us, just a focus on what's in front of you. I love your focus on abundance, on joy, on family, on giving your whole heart to what's in front of you and on making your family and children the center of your life and efforts as mine always were. Even through the hardships of their pre-teen and teen years I still homeschooled my girls (unschooled them, the 'scary' version to so many people inside and out of the community), since the economy was a nightmare and as a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of over a decade at that point, even with an *excellent* education and experience from Before, I couldn't find a job. In hindsight, I don't think the income would have done us, and them, nearly as much good as the experience of being given the freedom to explore their world and interests, and to become life-long, self-taught learners. I know you're more school at homers, but your boys are so fortunate to have you and the experiences and love you give them, and the safety and security and abundance you and Miah have provided for them. And I know this is ludicrously long and rambling b/c I'm stream of consciousness-ing before rushing out to my shift at the food bank, but I just wanted you to know how much your videos mean to me, and how much they've changed my outlook and my life and what I'm providing for my family in this season of our lives--I bought a pressure canner and I'm learning to use it to make sure we always have healthy, home-prepared food, even if only some of it can be home grown. I feed my grown girls more often than not because they work long hours at demanding jobs doing important and wonderful things caring for others in a scary world, and I need to know they're eating well and cared for and know they're loved. And they've planning to buy acreage to move us all to as soon as they can (if they can in this world) so I can grow more food, have chickens for eggs and dairy goats or sheep, maaaybe a beef cow and meat chickens if they can get past their suburban view of all animals as pets (I'm afraid the world might push them to that and wish it wouldn't). I'm running very late now and have to flee, but thank you thank you thank you, and I'm sorry for the ramble.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and also for your encouragement. The diversity of beliefs in community are, for me, proof that it is indeed a connection forged in choice rather than comfort. It makes it rich and rare. Thank you for being with me and seeing my heart in it all.
I love that you are focused on positivity, joy, and family. There are enough folks out there who are enflaming throughts and you are a breath of fresh air. Even when you don't mention God, His presence in your life shines through.
I'm a former homeschool mom and published a book about my 15 years leading a homeschool co-op. I'm also building a brand and developing a mini-course and membership to help moms create their own successful, supportive co-ops.
You are my example on how to keep my encouragement/knowledge open to all, regardless of someone's faith or lack thereof. Thank you so much for not only introducing me to the wonders of growing and preserving my own food to supply my family and friends, but also for teaching me how to stay gracious and focused on Jesus, where those who don't know or are afraid of Him can feel welcomed. We are His letters to be read, not orators pushing our own viewpoints, and you do that well.
When I am in a panic about the world. I go to your vlogs and it calms me. It grounds me and reminds me to be present and to do what I can with what I have in front of me. I am so grateful for that. I live in Minnesota. An atmosphere of fear is definitely present, but the hope, love and community is pushing us beyond the fear. Roots and Refuge has been a space that I retreat to to push me beyond my fear.
I am also a Minnesotan grounded by you Jess and by my garden. The love here is incredible and sometimes grounded in food — at the church where I pack groceries for families that can’t leave their homes or protect the door at the small Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood so they can continue to provide for their family and their customers. Love is overcoming fear here and that love shows up in thousands of different ways. Beautiful to behold.
I remember when the pandemic hit, my daughter who is a teacher, began to feel very guilty, and we had a big conversation about this. She said that so many people are so afraid, and so affected and stressed out by the situation, but for some reason, our family was having the best year of our lives! She had just had her first baby and her husband had to work from home, the weather was fantastic that spring, and I (the new grandmother🥰) was able to stay home also and spend a lot of time with her and the new baby. Our entire family decided we would all be a ‘social bubble’. We still remember this as the best year ever for our family, we all slowed down, we focused on our gardens, big family dinners, movie nights, played games outside, played games inside when the weather turned bad, we were all there for each other.
But, there were other families that would share on social media how much they were stressed and suffering, and it made her afraid to share how wonderful this time has been for our family. Isn’t that sad? I think we should never feel guilty about not taking on all of the world‘s troubles. I don’t think most of us were ever meant for that. I just try to focus on what I can control in my small circle and I mainly try to focus on the more positive aspects of everything. Joy. I choose joy.
I love your writing. It so resonates with me. You express the words I feel but can't articulate. I too, am on the same journey to resiliency and thriving.
This past weekend I left the relative comfort and security of my family, home and country. I traveled with our youngest to meet my mentor, my soul sister and my hero. I packed my ever present self-doubt, as I am still learning to leave it behind and a small ball of fear bounced into my carry-on. I made sure to stuff enough yarn on top so it didn't make a fuss. Despite the self doubt, fear and nagging panic I was proud of my otherwise well packed bag. I was going to keep it simple and not let anxiety rule this very important journey. I had a very important task at the forefront of all my other thoughts and it implored me to stay focused: "please deliver your gratitude".
I am so grateful I did. When I think of this accomplishment, with my son's hand in mine, I'm filled up with joy, well-being, hope and endless possibility. Our minds are like luggage - the more room we can make for peace, the less room there is for fear. If you do need to pack just a little fear, make sure you stuff a bigger ball of yarn on top.
They say we each give what we do best to the fight and you are giving knowledge and preparedness. Thank you for saying something though. silence speaks so loud sometimes and even when intentional it feels like we must call out the unjust in some way or people mistake it for ok. thank you for preparing us. it was one of your videos over 7 years ago now that led me to buy property and begin the journey ourselves. That property is now nearly self sustained. So your work is making so much change.
I have been watching your YouTube channel for years now, Jess. I think the most shakiness I’ve ever felt in my life was during COVID. I worked as an ICU nurse in a COVID unit and it changed EVERYTHING for me. But on my days off, I would tend to my garden, watch my chickens range around the yard, give myself lessons on pressure canning, and find encouragement in your videos. Thank you for your perspective, and for trusting in Truth when you hear it. You’ve helped calm many a storm for more people than you’ll ever realize.
Luke 6:48: “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.”
Keep being a light in the world, Jess. Your wisdom is so appreciated. ✨
Around the same time of your conversation on the red couch, something bubbled up in me. There were no clear words as they were for you just an unspoken sense. My gardening was originally guided because I was a foodie, and wanted the real flavor and unique varieties. Then I realized growing a garden led to an abundance, not just in the produce I grew, but also in other areas of my life. I embraced that feeling and it led me away from my younger life of scarcity mindset that I hung on for so long. I don’t have to live there anymore, even though it gave me wisdom of surviving. I’ll keep that wisdom and compound it with abundance. The something comforting and humbling in that.
This is a thoughtful and deeply personal reflection, and I completely understand why you feel protective of your peace and focus on the work that gives you stability. It’s also crucial, though, to recognize the immense privilege you have in being able to detach yourself from the chaos and the constant strain of current events. I know you have mentioned this very briefly, but this plays such a massive role. You're in a position to opt out because of factors like your immigration status, the color of your skin, and your financial security. These are advantages that allow you to carve out a space of peace, free from the constant weight of the world’s injustices.
But the truth is, for so many people—particularly those who are most at risk—there is no choice to opt out. They cannot simply walk away from the harsh realities because those things are their daily lived experience. For them, there is no "quiet calculation" about when to start dinner or what to plant in the garden; their lives are filled with the urgent pressure of survival, and they don’t have the luxury of retreating into domesticity, no matter how healing or productive it may be. The systems you acknowledge as broken aren’t abstract for them—they’re actively shaping and controlling their every move, every day.
While you may feel the weight of fear and injustice from some distance, and while the work you are doing to teach resilience and self-sufficiency does have great value, it’s important to name who is actually able to receive that message. Much of what you offer reaches people in middle America who, like you, have the ability to remain personally insulated from many of these harms. For those whose lives are actively at risk—because of race, immigration status, poverty, or state violence—there is no option to opt out, prepare quietly, or retreat into safety.
My concern is that framing this inward turn as the faithful or steady response can unintentionally encourage others with similar privilege to disengage as well, at a moment when retreat is not a neutral act. When people who can speak, act, or apply pressure choose not to, the burden doesn’t disappear—it simply shifts onto those who have no choice but to carry it. I also fear that some of the very people who feel comforted by this message, and who are grateful for the quiet refuge you offer, may be quietly supporting the forces and policies that are causing this harm.
Reading your precious words reminded me of several things, first of all why I gave up TV years ago. I came to believe it only serves to stoke fear when we already know in our gut the World is in turmoil. Giving in to and absorbing that chaos and hysteria might just be the object, if you think about it. Instead, you remain calmly focused on the good and daily activities of preparing for the next necessary thing, be it the next meal, or the next unforeseen disaster. In this lifetime, there will always be another 'something' coming along.
You have become a light, Jess, simply because even with your fears, you keep doing the next right thing, understanding full well, as an adult, the consequences if you don't. Sometimes that's a lonely place, which is why I personally am happy that God is my rudder. Bless you for sharing your fears.
There’s a lot of wisdom here. I love that you focus on a measured, thought out response rather than an off the cuff emotional reaction.
Thank you for being a steady light in a glass house, for reaching out a steady hand while making reassuring eye contact and speaking words of encouragement and instruction and hope.
Surely He has placed you here for such a time as this.
Thank you for helping me to define hope, when hope feels like magical thinking. Leaven. I will continue to feed and nurture my 'leaven of hope', mix, proof, shape, bake and share. Repeat.
I am currently living in the storm of what I call The Horrible.
You see, I live in MN, in the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
I am awed and amazed by my fellow citizens for standing up and caring and sharing and guarding and making a joyful sound of who we here are. Our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, our families are showing the world what resilience looks like.
And I have to say it is the goodness that really gets me teary eyed. The murders however racked me with sobs.
This is who we really, truly and actually are as Minnesotans; we care and we help pretty much no matter what, no matter who. The immigrants here, are decades woven into the fabric of our lives.
We are walking our faiths in real time, no matter how we are called to pray.
I cannot look away. As an old woman who has seen some things, I know better. It's the way I was raised I guess, to do something.
I am doing what I am able to be one of the Helpers that Mr Fred Rogers told the children to look for on his wonderful PBS show. Yesterday I went with three wonderful people to go to pick up abandoned bikes from the Mall of America. We loaded them up and took them to a place that does bike rehab and rebuild. Those bikes are then given to various charities/places around the metro area. One of those places is a center for Trauma; for victims of torture that have sought refuge in these united states. I can tell you that something like a mere bike fosters something magical to help the healing for many of these folks, especially the children.
I loved what you shared from your heart and I thank you.
I wish to remind you that being grounded and calm and steady is a profound prayer in and of itself. Your grounded energy in that quantum space of a walking prayer helps everything and everyone.
I think the choice you make not to speak about your political believes publicly is a very brave one. Not because you have something to hide, but because you recognise that you are helping people by doing so. I’ve recently dipped my toe into writing on here, and I’ve made the very conscious choice to focus on offering something that will provide hope and not add to the noise of everyone fighting for their opinions to be heard. I thought about how I might answer, if I was ever asked, the question of why I don’t speak about politics - especially when I am so vocal in private. I decided that my answer would be that I am speaking about it. When I say “I think that now is a good time to build community and start a seed a library” that is me speaking up. That is me taking power back, in my own way.
Most of my youth was spent living in danger, in my own home. Those on the outside could not see it but within the closed walls we could feel it. I learned to disappear when fear overtook me. That survival skill lingered into adulthood. I feel it strongly now. I want to hide from the madness. I decided that I don’t want to disappear into safety. There are things I can do to help my community, despite my age. I have a plan now and I feel better, stronger, more capable. Jess, I appreciate your words.
I don't share your faith, I'm a firmly dyed-in-the-wool atheist and humanist, but I love your perspective and your strength and your generosity. I'm 57 years old and have spent much of the last 20 years quailing in the shadow of fear as our safe and comfortable life fell apart due to disability, only saved by the incredible love and generosity of my in-laws, despite the strain it put on them to take us in and help raise our children to a safe adulthood, and I didn't know how much I needed your calm and peace and focus on abundance until I found it and let myself really soak it in. I'm fortunate now to have a large garden thanks to the free community garden spaces in the seniors development we now live in with my mother-in-law, and I've been slowly relearning the power and joy of food gardening after almost 20 years away from the hobby gardening of my privileged young adulthood. I'm learning to grow what we need, learning to preserve it, making some badly needed money to support it by selling 'organic' vegetable seedlings in the spring, and hoping I can do enough for my family to make a difference as the world falls apart around us. You're one of the few explicitly christian youtubers and homesteaders I've felt comfortable following, because I don't feel unwelcome or judged here, and I don't feel like your silences on politics and the world are support of the evils around us, just a focus on what's in front of you. I love your focus on abundance, on joy, on family, on giving your whole heart to what's in front of you and on making your family and children the center of your life and efforts as mine always were. Even through the hardships of their pre-teen and teen years I still homeschooled my girls (unschooled them, the 'scary' version to so many people inside and out of the community), since the economy was a nightmare and as a stay-at-home, homeschooling mom of over a decade at that point, even with an *excellent* education and experience from Before, I couldn't find a job. In hindsight, I don't think the income would have done us, and them, nearly as much good as the experience of being given the freedom to explore their world and interests, and to become life-long, self-taught learners. I know you're more school at homers, but your boys are so fortunate to have you and the experiences and love you give them, and the safety and security and abundance you and Miah have provided for them. And I know this is ludicrously long and rambling b/c I'm stream of consciousness-ing before rushing out to my shift at the food bank, but I just wanted you to know how much your videos mean to me, and how much they've changed my outlook and my life and what I'm providing for my family in this season of our lives--I bought a pressure canner and I'm learning to use it to make sure we always have healthy, home-prepared food, even if only some of it can be home grown. I feed my grown girls more often than not because they work long hours at demanding jobs doing important and wonderful things caring for others in a scary world, and I need to know they're eating well and cared for and know they're loved. And they've planning to buy acreage to move us all to as soon as they can (if they can in this world) so I can grow more food, have chickens for eggs and dairy goats or sheep, maaaybe a beef cow and meat chickens if they can get past their suburban view of all animals as pets (I'm afraid the world might push them to that and wish it wouldn't). I'm running very late now and have to flee, but thank you thank you thank you, and I'm sorry for the ramble.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience and also for your encouragement. The diversity of beliefs in community are, for me, proof that it is indeed a connection forged in choice rather than comfort. It makes it rich and rare. Thank you for being with me and seeing my heart in it all.
I love that you are focused on positivity, joy, and family. There are enough folks out there who are enflaming throughts and you are a breath of fresh air. Even when you don't mention God, His presence in your life shines through.
I'm a former homeschool mom and published a book about my 15 years leading a homeschool co-op. I'm also building a brand and developing a mini-course and membership to help moms create their own successful, supportive co-ops.
You are my example on how to keep my encouragement/knowledge open to all, regardless of someone's faith or lack thereof. Thank you so much for not only introducing me to the wonders of growing and preserving my own food to supply my family and friends, but also for teaching me how to stay gracious and focused on Jesus, where those who don't know or are afraid of Him can feel welcomed. We are His letters to be read, not orators pushing our own viewpoints, and you do that well.
Diane, you really are welcome here.
I enjoyed reading your thoughts and can tell that it comes straight from your heart. Thank you for this.
Beautifully said. Thank you for sharing. It helps put words to what we are feeling while encouraging Jess on her purpose.
When I am in a panic about the world. I go to your vlogs and it calms me. It grounds me and reminds me to be present and to do what I can with what I have in front of me. I am so grateful for that. I live in Minnesota. An atmosphere of fear is definitely present, but the hope, love and community is pushing us beyond the fear. Roots and Refuge has been a space that I retreat to to push me beyond my fear.
I am also a Minnesotan grounded by you Jess and by my garden. The love here is incredible and sometimes grounded in food — at the church where I pack groceries for families that can’t leave their homes or protect the door at the small Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood so they can continue to provide for their family and their customers. Love is overcoming fear here and that love shows up in thousands of different ways. Beautiful to behold.
I remember when the pandemic hit, my daughter who is a teacher, began to feel very guilty, and we had a big conversation about this. She said that so many people are so afraid, and so affected and stressed out by the situation, but for some reason, our family was having the best year of our lives! She had just had her first baby and her husband had to work from home, the weather was fantastic that spring, and I (the new grandmother🥰) was able to stay home also and spend a lot of time with her and the new baby. Our entire family decided we would all be a ‘social bubble’. We still remember this as the best year ever for our family, we all slowed down, we focused on our gardens, big family dinners, movie nights, played games outside, played games inside when the weather turned bad, we were all there for each other.
But, there were other families that would share on social media how much they were stressed and suffering, and it made her afraid to share how wonderful this time has been for our family. Isn’t that sad? I think we should never feel guilty about not taking on all of the world‘s troubles. I don’t think most of us were ever meant for that. I just try to focus on what I can control in my small circle and I mainly try to focus on the more positive aspects of everything. Joy. I choose joy.
I love your writing. It so resonates with me. You express the words I feel but can't articulate. I too, am on the same journey to resiliency and thriving.
I totally agree with you, Christine. I tell myself that when I want to know what I'm thinking, I listen to Jess.
This past weekend I left the relative comfort and security of my family, home and country. I traveled with our youngest to meet my mentor, my soul sister and my hero. I packed my ever present self-doubt, as I am still learning to leave it behind and a small ball of fear bounced into my carry-on. I made sure to stuff enough yarn on top so it didn't make a fuss. Despite the self doubt, fear and nagging panic I was proud of my otherwise well packed bag. I was going to keep it simple and not let anxiety rule this very important journey. I had a very important task at the forefront of all my other thoughts and it implored me to stay focused: "please deliver your gratitude".
I am so grateful I did. When I think of this accomplishment, with my son's hand in mine, I'm filled up with joy, well-being, hope and endless possibility. Our minds are like luggage - the more room we can make for peace, the less room there is for fear. If you do need to pack just a little fear, make sure you stuff a bigger ball of yarn on top.
❤️❤️❤️👏👏👏
They say we each give what we do best to the fight and you are giving knowledge and preparedness. Thank you for saying something though. silence speaks so loud sometimes and even when intentional it feels like we must call out the unjust in some way or people mistake it for ok. thank you for preparing us. it was one of your videos over 7 years ago now that led me to buy property and begin the journey ourselves. That property is now nearly self sustained. So your work is making so much change.
I have been watching your YouTube channel for years now, Jess. I think the most shakiness I’ve ever felt in my life was during COVID. I worked as an ICU nurse in a COVID unit and it changed EVERYTHING for me. But on my days off, I would tend to my garden, watch my chickens range around the yard, give myself lessons on pressure canning, and find encouragement in your videos. Thank you for your perspective, and for trusting in Truth when you hear it. You’ve helped calm many a storm for more people than you’ll ever realize.
Luke 6:48: “He is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently against that house, and could not shake it, for it was founded on the rock.”
Keep being a light in the world, Jess. Your wisdom is so appreciated. ✨
Around the same time of your conversation on the red couch, something bubbled up in me. There were no clear words as they were for you just an unspoken sense. My gardening was originally guided because I was a foodie, and wanted the real flavor and unique varieties. Then I realized growing a garden led to an abundance, not just in the produce I grew, but also in other areas of my life. I embraced that feeling and it led me away from my younger life of scarcity mindset that I hung on for so long. I don’t have to live there anymore, even though it gave me wisdom of surviving. I’ll keep that wisdom and compound it with abundance. The something comforting and humbling in that.
This is a thoughtful and deeply personal reflection, and I completely understand why you feel protective of your peace and focus on the work that gives you stability. It’s also crucial, though, to recognize the immense privilege you have in being able to detach yourself from the chaos and the constant strain of current events. I know you have mentioned this very briefly, but this plays such a massive role. You're in a position to opt out because of factors like your immigration status, the color of your skin, and your financial security. These are advantages that allow you to carve out a space of peace, free from the constant weight of the world’s injustices.
But the truth is, for so many people—particularly those who are most at risk—there is no choice to opt out. They cannot simply walk away from the harsh realities because those things are their daily lived experience. For them, there is no "quiet calculation" about when to start dinner or what to plant in the garden; their lives are filled with the urgent pressure of survival, and they don’t have the luxury of retreating into domesticity, no matter how healing or productive it may be. The systems you acknowledge as broken aren’t abstract for them—they’re actively shaping and controlling their every move, every day.
While you may feel the weight of fear and injustice from some distance, and while the work you are doing to teach resilience and self-sufficiency does have great value, it’s important to name who is actually able to receive that message. Much of what you offer reaches people in middle America who, like you, have the ability to remain personally insulated from many of these harms. For those whose lives are actively at risk—because of race, immigration status, poverty, or state violence—there is no option to opt out, prepare quietly, or retreat into safety.
My concern is that framing this inward turn as the faithful or steady response can unintentionally encourage others with similar privilege to disengage as well, at a moment when retreat is not a neutral act. When people who can speak, act, or apply pressure choose not to, the burden doesn’t disappear—it simply shifts onto those who have no choice but to carry it. I also fear that some of the very people who feel comforted by this message, and who are grateful for the quiet refuge you offer, may be quietly supporting the forces and policies that are causing this harm.
Reading your precious words reminded me of several things, first of all why I gave up TV years ago. I came to believe it only serves to stoke fear when we already know in our gut the World is in turmoil. Giving in to and absorbing that chaos and hysteria might just be the object, if you think about it. Instead, you remain calmly focused on the good and daily activities of preparing for the next necessary thing, be it the next meal, or the next unforeseen disaster. In this lifetime, there will always be another 'something' coming along.
You have become a light, Jess, simply because even with your fears, you keep doing the next right thing, understanding full well, as an adult, the consequences if you don't. Sometimes that's a lonely place, which is why I personally am happy that God is my rudder. Bless you for sharing your fears.
Steady on, friend. Steady on. It is enough.
There’s a lot of wisdom here. I love that you focus on a measured, thought out response rather than an off the cuff emotional reaction.
Thank you for being a steady light in a glass house, for reaching out a steady hand while making reassuring eye contact and speaking words of encouragement and instruction and hope.
Surely He has placed you here for such a time as this.
Thank you for helping me to define hope, when hope feels like magical thinking. Leaven. I will continue to feed and nurture my 'leaven of hope', mix, proof, shape, bake and share. Repeat.
I am currently living in the storm of what I call The Horrible.
You see, I live in MN, in the twin cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul.
I am awed and amazed by my fellow citizens for standing up and caring and sharing and guarding and making a joyful sound of who we here are. Our neighbors, our friends, our colleagues, our families are showing the world what resilience looks like.
And I have to say it is the goodness that really gets me teary eyed. The murders however racked me with sobs.
This is who we really, truly and actually are as Minnesotans; we care and we help pretty much no matter what, no matter who. The immigrants here, are decades woven into the fabric of our lives.
We are walking our faiths in real time, no matter how we are called to pray.
I cannot look away. As an old woman who has seen some things, I know better. It's the way I was raised I guess, to do something.
I am doing what I am able to be one of the Helpers that Mr Fred Rogers told the children to look for on his wonderful PBS show. Yesterday I went with three wonderful people to go to pick up abandoned bikes from the Mall of America. We loaded them up and took them to a place that does bike rehab and rebuild. Those bikes are then given to various charities/places around the metro area. One of those places is a center for Trauma; for victims of torture that have sought refuge in these united states. I can tell you that something like a mere bike fosters something magical to help the healing for many of these folks, especially the children.
I loved what you shared from your heart and I thank you.
I wish to remind you that being grounded and calm and steady is a profound prayer in and of itself. Your grounded energy in that quantum space of a walking prayer helps everything and everyone.
Truly Jess, it does and I thank you.
I think the choice you make not to speak about your political believes publicly is a very brave one. Not because you have something to hide, but because you recognise that you are helping people by doing so. I’ve recently dipped my toe into writing on here, and I’ve made the very conscious choice to focus on offering something that will provide hope and not add to the noise of everyone fighting for their opinions to be heard. I thought about how I might answer, if I was ever asked, the question of why I don’t speak about politics - especially when I am so vocal in private. I decided that my answer would be that I am speaking about it. When I say “I think that now is a good time to build community and start a seed a library” that is me speaking up. That is me taking power back, in my own way.
Well said!
Most of my youth was spent living in danger, in my own home. Those on the outside could not see it but within the closed walls we could feel it. I learned to disappear when fear overtook me. That survival skill lingered into adulthood. I feel it strongly now. I want to hide from the madness. I decided that I don’t want to disappear into safety. There are things I can do to help my community, despite my age. I have a plan now and I feel better, stronger, more capable. Jess, I appreciate your words.
I’m so very sorry for what you had to endure in your youth.