Own Your Power
... and a 1st Birthday to celebrate....
Dear Ones,
In celebration and recognition of a BIG MILESTONE…
… I’m sending short-form Loveletters to ALL subscribers — not just Supporting (paid) Subscribers — on Monday and Wednesday this week, in addition to the usual long-form Loveletter all of you usually get on Fridays.
This means that, if you’re a Free Subscriber, you’ll get a taste — below this note — of the sorts of missives I usually send out to Supporting Subscribers every week.
Cool?
Cool.
So.
What’s the milestone?!
A year ago, in the 1st week of June 2024, I birthed something that I knew was powerful — something I knew was going to quietly, gradually, profoundly change the professional world I've inhabited for well over a decade-and-a-half (nonprofit fundraising/philanthropy).
From experience, I knew
➡️ that caring for our communities — one of the core human impulses — had been packaged into an "industry" that hewed to capitalistic priorities more than humanistic ones; and
➡️ that my fellow fundraisers were dropping like flies, succumbing to burnout and illness at a rate that is starting to look like a pandemic; and
➡️ that the ridiculously high turnover rate in these jobs, one that had not-only not gotten better over the years, but that seemed to be getting worse, was completely undermining the good work they were attempting to do; and
➡️ that the widespread ridiculously low donor retention rate had also not gotten better over the years; and
➡️ that a focus on charity, one bereft of any signs of solidarity or justice, was causing us to spin our collective wheels, as we constantly put bandaids on deep wounds requiring much more for healing; and
➡️ that “philanthropy” was centering dollars and data far more than it was centering the communities it says it serves…
... and that, all together, these things meant that we could not keep doing what we had been doing.
I also knew that change is hard for us humans — that we are unlikely to embrace change unless we know we will be safe, and cared for, and nurtured through the process of change.
👆🏻Is that bit above how we usually talk professionally?
Nope. And that was part of the problem too, as I saw it.
In a world dominated by patriarchy, I've repeatedly seen how much anything that has even a whiff of the feminine (care, nurturing, compassion, collaboration, softness, empathy) is constantly sidelined by more masculine energies (domination, competition, winning, individualism).
I wanted to address ALL of this...
... with a new creation.
So I birthed it.
As you know — or are starting to learn — For the Love of Humanity is a publication and community meant for those who'd like to see nonprofits/fundraising/philanthropy be less of the industry it has become and return to its roots: love of humanity.
A place that is...
💗 a soft place to land; and
💗 a lighthouse for weary travelers (shining beams of truth, love, justice, integrity, compassion, collaboration, empathy); and
💗 a thriving community; and
💗 committed to change in a way that is... different than the usual ways we've all become accustomed to.
✍🏻 I've been publishing writing here for a year now...
... and I'll launch the podcast later this month.🎙️
This place is beautiful and hopeful...
... AND...
... it's nothing...
without YOU.
THANK YOU for being here.
With Love,
Cecelia 💗
The world around us is constantly giving us the message that we are powerless…
… that we are victims of circumstance…
… that life is something that happens TO us, mostly.
Do you know how untrue that is?
Do you know how much power you actually have, in your moment-to-moment, day-to-day existence?
There is SO much we can discuss on this topic, and I’m sure we will eventually… but I’d like you to ponder this beautiful and wise remark today.
Between stimulus and response, there is a space.
In that space is our power to choose our response.
In our response lies our growth and our freedom.
― Viktor E. Frankl
In case you’re not familiar with him, Frankl is a Holocaust survivor.
He knows a thing or two about oppression, violence, and suffering, wouldn’t you say?
And this is the wisdom he offers us.
Ponder these words.
How might they affect your life?
How might they change you… and how you live?
How might they connect you with your power?
Comment and share your insights!
💗